You'll never get that thing to plane on asphalt. Regardless of the fuel. Or horsepower.
Dinghy Power Advice - Lehr Propane OB?
- Thread starter BlowMeAway
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- dinghy lehr propane ob
So many people critical of oil, gas, and coal until they have to push, pull, walk, row--or carry something heavy very far. In the words of my favorite author, Samuel Eliot Morison: "Motor transport is responsible for many ills, but it certainly has saved the world an enormous amount of equine, even human misery." ... "A frequent sight in winter was that of a horse falling down in harness, through slipping or sheer exhaustion; and I recall one occasion when a driver was whipping an animal that was prostrate in the snow to make him get up." (One Boy's Boston, 1887-1901).
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As in all things, compromise. Your shoulder is really going to hate lifting my 81 lb 9.8 horsepower OB onto the dink, and she simply cannot lift it. You don't do offshore, and you don't need a tug, so 5-6 hp is likely a great compromise.
Honda 4 stroke 2.3 hp air cooled OB. Lightweight, dependable, sips gas, powerful enough and did I mention lightweight? Can lift and carry with one hand. I went from a 5 to a 3.5 to this.
Yea, rowing dingy, you look especially salty when (correctly) rowing in. Oars also do not require much in the way of maintenance, fuel, and are easy to haul into the boat. Additionally they provide a tool to probe the bottom when aground going over the bar to tell which side is deep/shallow and can be use as an anti boarding weapon.....
Course you have to LEARN how to row, the horror!
Course you have to LEARN how to row, the horror!
a. Stabil has not tested very well with e10 gasoline. Basically not effective against corrosion, so that treatment accomplished nothing. Try Biobor EB, Merc, or Seafoam; much more effective.
b. Keep the vent closed whenever not in active use. Humidity sneaks in quick, and even tiny amounts of moisture accelerate corrosion.
E-10 is not the problem, it is us not learning to live with it. Good additive, keep the vent closed, keep the tank full. I have not had a carb problem in 5 years, and I run 3 of them.
My dink will plane... but why would I do that? More noise, more bumps, more fuel consumption. I would consider it adolescent and rude to shoot through the anchorage on plane, but not all feel that way.
b. Keep the vent closed whenever not in active use. Humidity sneaks in quick, and even tiny amounts of moisture accelerate corrosion.
E-10 is not the problem, it is us not learning to live with it. Good additive, keep the vent closed, keep the tank full. I have not had a carb problem in 5 years, and I run 3 of them.
My dink will plane... but why would I do that? More noise, more bumps, more fuel consumption. I would consider it adolescent and rude to shoot through the anchorage on plane, but not all feel that way.
Splashed my new 8` WM dingy and 2.5 h Lehr OB. So far so good. Rode it up the Foss waterway and back on half throttle. Enough speed for me. Hardly used any fuel. Its only going to be used for the boat to shore. Tried rowing it also. I think the 5h would have been too much for me. A lot heavier and more expensive. I have a motor davit but no boat davit so I hoisted it on to the deck with the spinnaker line. I know nothing about trolling motors or I would have looked into that.
If you are planning on cruising, consider how easy it will be to get gasoline, and not so easy to get propane. Dinghy won't go anywhere without fuel. Think Bahamas....propane is available, but you'll be planning your every move around its availability, where and when.
I use a Lehr 5hp with a 10 ft Achilles RIB. Almost gets on plane with the dog (20 lbs) and me, but not with any more load. I'm happy with it. I don't like carrying gasoline and dealing with gummed up carburetors.
I have the 2.5hp on an 8ft dink and it will not plane with two of us in it. Don't need it to putt around the creeks we visit. Starts on either first or second pull every time. Mine has been light weight and dependable. I hated lifting the 4hp merc 4 stroke at about 60lbs off it's mount and on the dink.
There is like 1/3 less energy in a unit of propane compared to gasoline so I wonder how fuel efficient those propane outboards really are? The Lehr dealer at the Annapolis Boat Show wanted me to believe the fuels are equivalent. They are not. Anyone seen side by side testing?
Thanks team for all the input. We will not be doing cruises on Cayuga Lake in upstate NY. I also would never go through populated anchorages or mooring at full throttle. My anchorages will be generally limited to one boat for an overnighter or two in the most secluded and sheltered coves available. The most significant use of the dinghy and OB will be to shuttle to shore where docking the 5.5' draft H30 is unfeasable. I've also decided on the 5 HP Lehr with the expectation of possible planing when heading solo down the Lake to the marine store.
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I don't understand how burning propane, a fossil fuel, and using disposable canisters, is more ECO friendly than a well tuned gas motor with a permanent fuel tank. How many of these little propane tanks end up in the landfill. There essentially is very little resources for recycling.
And, yes, I love to sail, but I love exploring the may coves and bays in the area we cruise. I also like to go for supplies if anchored out for an extended period and mostly it's a min. hour trip in the 15hp dink.
And, yes, I love to sail, but I love exploring the may coves and bays in the area we cruise. I also like to go for supplies if anchored out for an extended period and mostly it's a min. hour trip in the 15hp dink.
It's really not--it's a zero-sum game. Propane with 25% less energy (BTUs) than gasoline will require 25% more of it to do the same amount of work of [unleaded] gasoline of a fixed volume or weight. The amount of carbon dioxide emitted should be about the same but probably less carbon monoxide w/ propane. Fork lifts working in enclosed warehouse areas often use propane tanks (if not battery) b/c emissions are much less toxic to the people in there. Of course, then you have the canisters, as you say. But, what's the Eco-friendly part if CO2 is about the same?
I always thought that the big advantage to a propane fueled outboard was not having all the problems associated with the crap gasoline that we are forced to use.
One of the two good things about Sumter, SC is we can get non-ethanol gasoline. The other is Simpson's Hardware. Come visit right after Thanksgiving and you'll see what I mean about Simpson's.