Propane Outboard

[patbratton]

Does anyone have any experience with propane outboard motors? I am thinking of a 5 hp Mercury for a Hunter 240 if I can't get my Honda running again.
Update 10-23-2021
I have ordered a Mercury 5 hp Propane outboard from West Marine. It will be here next week. I will pull the Honda and work on it at home. I plant to back the boat into the slip, and with a sling, pull the motor onto the dock. I should take three guys to do it safely. It weights 90 lbs. The Mercury is less than 60 and should be a breeze. Two 11 lb. tanks should fit in my gas locker under the stern seat as the tanks are 18" high by 9" and the compartment is 19 inches tall and the hatch opening is 9 3/4 inches.
I like the Honda but I feel that it is too heavy for the mount on the H240. I only need a motor to get in and out of the marina and the Mercury should be perfect. The cost was a tad over $1,800.00.

 

[fred1diver]

I have a LEHR 5hp propane and I love it, except that they are no longer in business and parts are near impossible to find

 

[Hello Below]

Does anyone have any experience with propane outboard motors? I am thinking of a 5 hp Mercury for a Hunter 240 if I can't get my Honda running again.

Here is a link resulting from a search on “propane+outboard”. I see a few good threads that may get you started.

Search results

 

[patbratton]

thanks

 

[chuckwayne]

we've got a 2.5 Lehr for the dinghy and a 5hp Tohatsu for our 216. Love it! always starts right away, lots of torque, and minimal maintenance. replaced a 5hp gas merc the was a constant gas problem.
you can run the tohatsu off any size tank that suits your boat, from a 1lb camping bottle to a standard grill tank. Since there's no good place to mount a regular tank on the 216, I use a Coleman camp adapter (hold 2 1lb bottles in a case) attached in the stern of the cockpit next to the engine. I chose the tohatsu over the merc because I liked the feature set and construction better than the merc's - and it was less expensive

 

[dlochner]

The Lehr, Mercury, and Tohatsu are all made by Tohatsu. The propane versions have almost all the same parts as the gas versions, except the carburetor and fuel supply.

I seem to recall reading that Tohatsu continues to market the propane version under their own brand.

 

[Tally Ho]

this Mercury model seems to be in production…uses a 20# propane tank instead of 1# cylinders.

Worldwide Leader in Marine Propulsion | Mercury Marine

Manufacturers of outboard motors and MerCruiser inboard engines, with over 4000 dealers in the United States.

www.mercurymarine.com

Greg

 

[Tally Ho]

As does this one….

MFS5D-LPG | Portable | OUTBOARDS | TOHATSU International

Thanks to Tohatsu’s 5hp Propane / Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) outboard, sailors are no longer forced to carry gasoline

www.tohatsu.com

Greg

 

[chuckwayne]

The Lehr, Mercury, and Tohatsu are all made by Tohatsu. The propane versions have almost all the same parts as the gas versions, except the carburetor and fuel supply.

I seem to recall reading that Tohatsu continues to market the propane version under their own brand.

Hi Dave,
The Lehr was made by a company in china; Tohatsu and the merc are japanese (same mfr) and do have many common parts, the lehr is completely different - believe me, I know! those of us who bought lehrs before they disappeared are up the creek.

 

[Hello Below]

The Lehr was made by a company in china;

And according to Wikipedia:
“Lehr is regarded as the first manufacturer to have brought a propane-powered outboard motor to market by Popular Mechanics and other boating publications.”

 

[MikeHoncho]

I like the concept of my 2.5 Lehr. I do not like the quality of it and would not consider another one even with if the company was still in business. I very much prefer having propane cylinders on board compared to gasoline. The problem right now in my area is it is almost impossible to find the 1 lb cylinders. This has been the situation for the past 8 month. I use techniques to get around it.

 

[jeepbluetj]

I had a Lehr 2.5. Liked it until it puked oil all over Newport Harbor. Had to replace fuel lines 3 times.
Great idea, poor implementation. Started first pull every time (provided it had been bled).

Now that a "real" outboard manufacturer like Tohatsu is making them (and undoubtedly using parts from their gas models), I'd definitely consider it. Propane removes one fuel. I carry propane for the grill, backup for the stove, etc. But with a gas dink motor I need to carry gas as well. Propane solves that.

 

[dlochner]

Hi Dave,
The Lehr was made by a company in china; Tohatsu and the merc are japanese (same mfr) and do have many common parts, the lehr is completely different - believe me, I know! those of us who bought lehrs before they disappeared are up the creek.

I stand corrected on the Lehr/Tohatsu issue.

 

[Benny17441]

Chinese manufacturers do not go bankrupt, beware of the same product coming back under a different brand name with new ambassadors backing.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Yip Lehr is a Chinese product and they are noisy. The Tohatsu LPG are the same motor as their gas, with a different fuel delivery system. You can lay the outboard down on any side, unlike a 4-stroke, is cleaner for the environment in comparison to gasoline, but offers the same performance. You don't have to worry about dirty fuel, hard starting, carb issues and they are available for sailboats (Sail Pro) with longer shafts, high thrust prop and charging system.

 

[john6206]

I have a Mercury sail pro 5 HP.

I give it pretty high marks overall. Louder than I hoped it would be, but clean, no smell, no hanging my hiney over the transom with a Gerry can to refill it, no seafoam or stabil. . . Etc.

I used 1lb cans for a few weeks, then I bought a composite tank from West Marine. It’s an 11 lb can - l‘ve never come close to running out.

I don’t have a fuel locker that meets the regs for propane storage, or is physically large enough for this tank, so it resides on the cockpit floor (another point against it).

 

[john6206]

Considering getting a couple “propane growlers”

 

[patbratton]

Propane update. I have installed the Mercury 5 hp outboard. I have two 11 lb. tanks that fit in my fuel compartment ( there is space for a 20 lb but the hatch opening is too small to accept it). I notice no difference in performance between it and my Honda 8 hp which I have brought home to clean and repair. The Hunter 240 has two long bolts that hold the upper hinge plate for the rudder post. They extend into area above the fuel compartment and I have hung a square aluminum tube with supports for the tanks.

 

[santana1972]

Looks good. I have my shiny new Mercury 5hp lpg outboard but am stuck in a struggle with them to get the owner’s manual that failed to arrive with it. So far support line says they have none. Yes. Really. Any chance yours is marked with either the part number they tell me or the one I found on Mercury catalog site match up?
- 5 HP FOURSTROKE PROPANE
SERVICE MANUALS
8M0156927 or 8M015256?

 

[patbratton]

I downloaded a PDF from Mercury's website. The one I have is 8M015256 for a motor series starting in 2019. I would download both and compare them. I would imagine the 927 is the latest.