Rewriting history, a very, very cool ride, and Dave Z is making a lot of good points...
I need a new outboard... and, yes, I've already put it through my need/want calculator. As much as I don't want a new outboard I really do need one.
Part of the reason we need a new outboard is the cost of gas just keeps going up and even though I've downsized to a 5HP a few years back I'd prefer to spend less rather than more in the gas department.
So we're thinking a 2.5 HP would be no bad thing. Four-stroke, of course, would nearly double up on the fuel savings and make me that little less guilty about the awful pollution that is part and parcel that running a two stroke brings to the equation.
One area I've been looking at since we're now in four-stroke land is trying to find a carburetor kit that would allow for using propane as well as gas as a fuel.. So far, not a whole lot of luck on that front.
Why propane?
Well, mostly it is a lot less polluting than a gasoline engine, fewer oil changes, and, right now where I sit in the Caribbean, propane is a bit cheaper than gasoline... So, you might say propane makes a whole lot of sense and you have to wonder why no one has bothered to build a propane only or multi-fuel outboard so far.
Speaking of the devil...
Now, does this make sense or what?
A 2.5 HP propane outboard!
While not a multi-fuel unit, it does have the good design sense to be able to use large 10# or 20# propane bottles as well as those handy (if silly expensive) 1# bottles so you can have a backup get home fuel source in the dinghy for when the big bottle runs out.
According to the specs, a 20# propane tank would give you 20 hours of use at full throttle... Not that I'm ever a full throttle kind of guy, but my guess is that this equates to being considerably more fuel efficient than a 2.5HP gasoline outboard.
Not much more expensive than a normal four-stroke outboard of the same horsepower, the added savings in fuel efficiency, lower cost of propane, and the savings in motor oil would be saving you some real money overall. As an added bonus, since almost all outboard problems are directly related to bad fuel it would save you money/time in a BIG way and be a lot more dependable as well!
Seems I may have found my next outboard! As it happens, for those who need more power, Lehr also makes a 5HP...
Listening to Laura Love
So it goes...
