I wanted to try making an engine run on propane and I didn't think it would be this easy. The propane engine has about the same amount of power as the gasoline version.
I converted my push mower to propane about 6 years ago. Mowed with it a couple of years, gave it to a neighbor, and he gave it to his brother. It's still running fine last time I heard. You can see it in my older videos.
I converted my 42 inch Yard Machines riding mower to propane 5 years ago and is the best thing I did. I used a Garretson T60 regulator that meters the fuel for the load and if the engine quits for any reason the propane stops completely. Much safer that way. I have about 80 hours on the engine since the conversion and have had no issues with the fuel system. I wish MTD who makes about 80 percent of all riding mowers would start offering a propane option, but I guess that makes way too much sense!
Trying to avoid fixing/replacing my carbie. I've flicked thru a few vids for ideas.. stumbled across yours and you have the exact same carbie as mine. So good! Thanks :)
a while back, about 7 or 8 years ago while I was still in high school I had an old Snapper riding mower with a Tecumseh 8HP engine which I had modified to run either propane or gasoline just by opening or closing valves. it was fun for me at the time I guess. Gasoline was pretty expensive at the time and propane was much cheaper so it was worthwhile haha
Aloha. Thanks for such a great presentation. I did exactly the same hook up, except I disconnected the return spring for the cut off. When I open my propane torch all the way, I can only get the engine to idle. The carb spring is broken but I don't think that is my problem. Just seems like it is not getting enough "gas". I'll try and find another propane torch control and see if I can get more fuel into the carb.
Good video. I have had absolutely no luck with gasoline-powered lawn machines for @ 20 years.... went to corded electric lawn mowers ( lotta torque ) etc, but eventually bought a gas generator, weed-wacker, and hedge trimmer... none of which start right now.... I assume that if I want to convert them to propane, I gotta either clean the carbs or buy new carbs to get the machine to run, then do the conversion....But you certainly make it look doable.... Thanks
xzqzq quit buying reg gasoline from the corner market. You need to buy non ethanol gas. You see gasoline has 10% ethanol which gunks up the carbs and jets in any engine that isn't used every day. Or religiously. It's spendy this non ethanol gas but it doesn't take that much non ethanol gas to mow your typical lawn. Or to edge your average house.. Just my 2 cents.
converted my generator that way to get it started crack the propane then close the valve start your machine then quickly open the propane valve again. If you try to start it with the valve on continuous flow you will flood the carb just like gasoline.
not only less wear and tear, but it burns clean, so the inside of the engine stays cleaner. I've seen propane run engines taken apart, the inside needed no cleaning at all. If propane was cheaper and easily available everywhere, running on propane would be the way to go with about anything.
@@tootall5559 autogas or lpg is essentially that, just buy it on a gas station with a professional safety tank with security valve and "refill" that from the security tank to your small sized propane mini tanks suitable for lawnmawer etc
@@opferbauer4941 around here, you can't buy propane or LPG gas at a service station, unless it's also a convenience store and has the prefilled swap out tanks. I used to fill propane tanks for our forklifts, but it was propane, not LPG, what the difference is, I don't know.
@@tootall5559 "LPG" is "Liquid Petroleum Gas" all propane is LPG, but not all LPG is propane. Propane turns to gas when introduced to air. Some machines use vaporizers to turn propane back to its gaseous state for faster burning.
U have bypassed the governor and the throttle so it will run fine at a set rpm and load but when the engine requires more fuel and air to maintain a set rpm it will be either too lien or rich in air fuel mixture
with throttle all time wide open, and regulate rpms by gas flow, you often get on a lean mixture, and all of possible problems, who was because of lean mixture -overheating, exaust valve burning and so on, i suppose...
Propane does run clean and oil will last much longer as not much carbon in Combustion Process but Gasoline is Cheaper to Run unless you Fill your Small Bottles off a 20 lb. Cyclinder..
Do you have a screen between the propane bottle and the carb to prevent a backfire explosion? You have to be careful you don't blow yourself up! Great video by the way, keep up the good work.
radioactivelarry that shouldn't actually be possible considering the gas is under pressure and would continue to flow. Doesn't mean it can't backfire and catch other things on fire though I just don't think it can back burn into the tank. Correct me if I'm wrong and wtf you would do to prevent this if I am wrong lol
@@brandonmehrabi268 It's all about safety! You just can't be too careful. If you examine the torch end you will notice there is an air gap between the flame and the orifice where the gas comes out, that's to prevent a back flow into the bottle. If that little bottle ever blew up it would leave a small crater in the ground and blast shrapnel into the mower operator. Weather you use a screen or an air gap as a safety factor is up to you. Do some research and you will find why safety is so important dealing with propane. Everything is not perfect, "REMEMBER MURPHY'S LAW" it may work OK for months then one day you have a bad day and get blown up by your lawnmower!!!!! Good luck and be safe.....
lol imagine being american, gas is cheaper than water, but still want to go through this hassle and have to dial in the right a/f ratio everytime you start it haha... too lean can cause damage and too rich = no savings. keep in mind propane can be bad for your valves (trust me, I'm european and a lot of cars are bifuel / run on gas and propane/butane - all the newer ones inject some sort of oil to protect the valves where normally gasoline will keep em lubed up), however it probably doesn't really matter in a 2 stroke. I do really wonder if the exhaust smell more bearable on propane though.
I have one set up almost the same way. I ran my propane through the top of the breather cover. I like the clean install that you have done here. I just have one question... Since you disconnected the crankcase breather, how do you keep debris from getting sucked into the crankcase through the breather?
Would you be willing to give me a little more detail in setting this up? I've started trying to do the same with a tiller, but after about 5 minutes my bottle began to freeze and I started losing power. I may have to hole in the torch head too big.
Try when your bottle isn't completely full. Or you'll need to find a way to keep warm water around it. But at my old job they converted all our mowers at a golf course to propane. And we started filling to 75 80 percentage full when full was common for the regulator to freeze up and we would have to open the release valve on the propane tank and vent off a couple pounds to get it to run without freezing. I've seen the same thing on my metal foundry burner. You can always tape a couple bags of warm water around it if your using prefilled store tanks. If you have a larger tank you can refill the smaller tanks. When my tanks run out I cut them open and use a crucible for aluminum and copper. Works good hell sometimes just shoot them with a 22 pellet gun full then cut them they don't explode
After water conversion to Engines,the surging upper RPM problem on several engines had been solved. Not the water flow to carb, or special relay/electronics power supply. High volts and added 10 amps produced water vapor PRESSURE + Hydrogen gas. Heat from burning hydrogen expanded the water to steam in cylinders. It was finally figured - that it was the lack of EGR connection for Nitrogen compounds going back to the intake manifold. (Some water drippings saved) Piston compressed air in chamber has embedded Nitrogen required for smooth running engines.The new added S1R magnetic coil and 2.2Mh Inductor retarded the timing, since the 18HP mower engine had fixed factory timing at Zero point. See TH-cam Videos 1+2 from S1R9A9M9, and web site tech notes and documentation from Dr. Graneau fog pressure lab experiments.
with the throttle wide open like this you are going to risk the engine blowing from overspeed. This is effectively ungoverned. There needs to be a mechanical feedback loop to allow for the proper rpm limit. A piston rod flying through the side of the crankcase can easily maim or kill. This conversion design is essentially a Darwin challenge.
Rod wrist pin or bearing will spin first more then likely. The engine wasn't revving high enough to be in a danger zone. And they usually implode on themselves and destroy the crank etc. It's about as common as a car doing it.
I tried it with an old generator and almost blew it up the propane filled the fuel tank it backfired and poof the propane exploded the fuel tank expanded and luckily didn't Burst I plummed mine the exact same way with a torch tip and hose to vent port on carb
This is what gets me. We have everclear. It works just fine to cut grass. Pure alcohol is the cheapest out there and made right here at home. It has zero stuff in it. And is Flammable just fine. Can handle higher compression, and has a great cooling effect. It burns VERY clean. Problem is? The government has been taxing alcohol since 1791, and today? That tax is up to 5 bucks a gallon! No wonder there is no such thing as cheap clean fuel. They have been taxing this stuff to keep it above the price of gas for a LONG time. Its nuts! The thing that bothers me about all this is that we have this clean fuel, that's been made for 1000 of years. is safe for humans, can be made right at home, and as of now? Gas is at over 8 bucks a gallon in many citys . It highway robbery! No wonder the government has so much money to spend on frivolous things. Its a joke. And to put this into perspective? the actual cost to make alcohol is right around maybe 5 cents a gallon in large quantities. in many cases that's cheaper than electricity something's just not adding up there.
That “kill switch” lever you disabled doesn’t just kill the engine...it is actually an engine brake that has a brake pad that immediately stops the flywheel from turning... it is pretty dangerous letting the engine wind down rather than braking immediately in an emergency situation... Other than that, good info.
![CAMPปลิ้น | EP.75[1/2] ชวนแร็ปเปอร์เที่ยวประแสแบบไม่ต้องตามกระแส](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/J5ds2AxDp24/mqdefault.jpg)
Two of my favorite things. Mowers. And Propane.
"Propane and propane accessories! Butane is a bastard gas."
@@AE5X yep
Butane kills the environment I tell ya waht
@@Ian-ff2hz Yep
I converted my push mower to propane about 6 years ago. Mowed with it a couple of years, gave it to a neighbor, and he gave it to his brother. It's still running fine last time I heard. You can see it in my older videos.
I just finished mowing my yard with a lawnmower that hasn't started in three years thanks great video
This is a brilliant idea! Gasoline nowadays doesnt stay fresh for more than a few months so this is the perfect cure for that.
I'm curious to see how long that bottle will run the lawnmower.
I converted my 42 inch Yard Machines riding mower to propane 5 years ago and is the best thing I did. I used a Garretson T60 regulator that meters the fuel for the load and if the engine quits for any reason the propane stops completely. Much safer that way. I have about 80 hours on the engine since the conversion and have had no issues with the fuel system. I wish MTD who makes about 80 percent of all riding mowers would start offering a propane option, but I guess that makes way too much sense!
Great job. Simple conversion.
Trying to avoid fixing/replacing my carbie. I've flicked thru a few vids for ideas.. stumbled across yours and you have the exact same carbie as mine. So good! Thanks :)
Awesome man, I was having trouble getting my conversion to run, but your point about the flow control in the torch is gonna make it happen
Propane burns super clean too plus less oil changes.. Nice job man...
Propane is the clear winner in my opinion. I don't know why they arent commercially sold as new.
Great video. One of the easiest ways to doing this. Awesome.
thinking of using biopropane to fuel my lawnmower because I'm starting a green landscaping business
a while back, about 7 or 8 years ago while I was still in high school I had an old Snapper riding mower with a Tecumseh 8HP engine which I had modified to run either propane or gasoline just by opening or closing valves. it was fun for me at the time I guess. Gasoline was pretty expensive at the time and propane was much cheaper so it was worthwhile haha
Aloha. Thanks for such a great presentation. I did exactly the same hook up, except I disconnected the return spring for the cut off. When I open my propane torch all the way, I can only get the engine to idle. The carb spring is broken but I don't think that is my problem. Just seems like it is not getting enough "gas". I'll try and find another propane torch control and see if I can get more fuel into the carb.
Great demo. I think I found my next project. Thanks.
Good video. I have had absolutely no luck with gasoline-powered lawn machines for @ 20 years.... went to corded electric lawn mowers ( lotta torque ) etc, but eventually bought a gas generator, weed-wacker, and hedge trimmer... none of which start right now....
I assume that if I want to convert them to propane, I gotta either clean the carbs or buy new carbs to get the machine to run, then do the conversion....But you certainly make it look doable.... Thanks
xzqzq quit buying reg gasoline from the corner market. You need to buy non ethanol gas. You see gasoline has 10% ethanol which gunks up the carbs and jets in any engine that isn't used every day. Or religiously. It's spendy this non ethanol gas but it doesn't take that much non ethanol gas to mow your typical lawn. Or to edge your average house.. Just my 2 cents.
converted my generator that way to get it started crack the propane then close the valve start your machine then quickly open the propane valve again. If you try to start it with the valve on continuous flow you will flood the carb just like gasoline.
Ill try that cant get mine to start
I know that engines that are always run on propane need much less maintenance, and last a much longer time than if ran on gas.
not only less wear and tear, but it burns clean, so the inside of the engine stays cleaner. I've seen propane run engines taken apart, the inside needed no cleaning at all. If propane was cheaper and easily available everywhere, running on propane would be the way to go with about anything.
@@tootall5559 autogas or lpg is essentially that, just buy it on a gas station with a professional safety tank with security valve and "refill" that from the security tank to your small sized propane mini tanks suitable for lawnmawer etc
@@opferbauer4941 around here, you can't buy propane or LPG gas at a service station, unless it's also a convenience store and has the prefilled swap out tanks. I used to fill propane tanks for our forklifts, but it was propane, not LPG, what the difference is, I don't know.
@@tootall5559 "LPG" is "Liquid Petroleum Gas" all propane is LPG, but not all LPG is propane. Propane turns to gas when introduced to air. Some machines use vaporizers to turn propane back to its gaseous state for faster burning.
@@okiksapa1 is but ain't ? okay... whatever. you need to splain more..
One of those clamp on cup holders would work great for the bottle.
U have bypassed the governor and the throttle so it will run fine at a set rpm and load but when the engine requires more fuel and air to maintain a set rpm it will be either too lien or rich in air fuel mixture
so you gone to convert you riding mower?
Since there is no throttle, the governor would not function making the RPM fluctuate significantly depending on what the load is.
with throttle all time wide open, and regulate rpms by gas flow, you often get on a lean mixture, and all of possible problems, who was because of lean mixture -overheating, exaust valve burning and so on, i suppose...
Pretty cool
so how long does it run on that tank
Where do I find the throttle valve? That one that uou held to the open position.
Nice work;) does it have different temperature when running on propane?
propane runs a bit hotter. you don't have the evaporative cooling effect of the liquid fuel mist
Hank Hill approved.
Propane does run clean and oil will last much longer as not much carbon in Combustion Process but Gasoline is Cheaper to Run unless you Fill your Small Bottles off a 20 lb. Cyclinder..
Do you have a screen between the propane bottle and the carb to prevent a backfire explosion? You have to be careful you don't blow yourself up!
Great video by the way, keep up the good work.
radioactivelarry that shouldn't actually be possible considering the gas is under pressure and would continue to flow. Doesn't mean it can't backfire and catch other things on fire though I just don't think it can back burn into the tank. Correct me if I'm wrong and wtf you would do to prevent this if I am wrong lol
@@brandonmehrabi268 It's all about safety! You just can't be too careful. If you examine the torch end you will notice there is an air gap between the flame and the orifice where the gas comes out, that's to prevent a back flow into the bottle. If that little bottle ever blew up it would leave a small crater in the ground and blast shrapnel into the mower operator. Weather you use a screen or an air gap as a safety factor is up to you. Do some research and you will find why safety is so important dealing with propane.
Everything is not perfect, "REMEMBER MURPHY'S LAW" it may work OK for months then one day you have a bad day and get blown up by your lawnmower!!!!!
Good luck and be safe.....
There isn’t any oxygen in the tank. Propane requires oxygen to burn. Get it? Got it? Good.
@@misterdude4296 so it isn't likely possible as I thought.
@@radioactivelarry yes it is still always a good idea to be safe and take Murphy's law into account anyway. Agreed
Predator 79?
lol imagine being american, gas is cheaper than water, but still want to go through this hassle and have to dial in the right a/f ratio everytime you start it haha... too lean can cause damage and too rich = no savings.
keep in mind propane can be bad for your valves (trust me, I'm european and a lot of cars are bifuel / run on gas and propane/butane - all the newer ones inject some sort of oil to protect the valves where normally gasoline will keep em lubed up), however it probably doesn't really matter in a 2 stroke.
I do really wonder if the exhaust smell more bearable on propane though.
I have one set up almost the same way. I ran my propane through the top of the breather cover. I like the clean install that you have done here. I just have one question... Since you disconnected the crankcase breather, how do you keep debris from getting sucked into the crankcase through the breather?
Wes Youngblood .It doesn't work like that, The Pcv system stands for, positive crank case ventilation. . It dosent suck in air.
SZUPER😃
Would you be willing to give me a little more detail in setting this up? I've started trying to do the same with a tiller, but after about 5 minutes my bottle began to freeze and I started losing power. I may have to hole in the torch head too big.
Try when your bottle isn't completely full. Or you'll need to find a way to keep warm water around it. But at my old job they converted all our mowers at a golf course to propane. And we started filling to 75 80 percentage full when full was common for the regulator to freeze up and we would have to open the release valve on the propane tank and vent off a couple pounds to get it to run without freezing. I've seen the same thing on my metal foundry burner. You can always tape a couple bags of warm water around it if your using prefilled store tanks. If you have a larger tank you can refill the smaller tanks. When my tanks run out I cut them open and use a crucible for aluminum and copper. Works good hell sometimes just shoot them with a 22 pellet gun full then cut them they don't explode
Nice but it doesnt need a carb anymore since its already a gas now
After water conversion to Engines,the surging upper RPM problem on
several engines had been solved. Not the water flow to carb, or special
relay/electronics power supply. High volts and added 10 amps produced
water vapor PRESSURE + Hydrogen gas. Heat from burning hydrogen expanded
the water to steam in cylinders. It was finally figured - that it was
the lack of EGR connection for Nitrogen compounds going back to the
intake manifold. (Some water drippings saved) Piston compressed air in
chamber has embedded Nitrogen required for smooth running engines.The
new added S1R magnetic coil and 2.2Mh Inductor retarded the timing,
since the 18HP mower engine had fixed factory timing at Zero point. See
TH-cam Videos 1+2 from S1R9A9M9, and web site tech notes and
documentation from Dr. Graneau fog pressure lab experiments.
with the throttle wide open like this you are going to risk the engine blowing from overspeed. This is effectively ungoverned. There needs to be a mechanical feedback loop to allow for the proper rpm limit. A piston rod flying through the side of the crankcase can easily maim or kill. This conversion design is essentially a Darwin challenge.
Rod wrist pin or bearing will spin first more then likely. The engine wasn't revving high enough to be in a danger zone. And they usually implode on themselves and destroy the crank etc. It's about as common as a car doing it.
Is this lawn mower a four engine or two engine, I have a similar one but I can only find the gas tank, where is the other tank for engine oil?
Tina Hu this lawnmower only has one engine. (-:
Tina Hu its a four stroke.
How many hours can you get off one tank
I can vouch...not many hrs let alone cuts.
With my lp mower conversion, I will use one camping bottle per 2 medium lawn cuts
I wonder if it will run on mapp gas ?
That would be like running nitro
I tried it with an old generator and almost blew it up the propane filled the fuel tank it backfired and poof the propane exploded the fuel tank expanded and luckily didn't Burst I plummed mine the exact same way with a torch tip and hose to vent port on carb
This is what gets me. We have everclear. It works just fine to cut grass. Pure alcohol is the cheapest out there and made right here at home. It has zero stuff in it. And is Flammable just fine. Can handle higher compression, and has a great cooling effect. It burns VERY clean. Problem is? The government has been taxing alcohol since 1791, and today? That tax is up to 5 bucks a gallon! No wonder there is no such thing as cheap clean fuel. They have been taxing this stuff to keep it above the price of gas for a LONG time. Its nuts!
The thing that bothers me about all this is that we have this clean fuel, that's been made for 1000 of years. is safe for humans, can be made right at home, and as of now? Gas is at over 8 bucks a gallon in many citys . It highway robbery!
No wonder the government has so much money to spend on frivolous things. Its a joke.
And to put this into perspective? the actual cost to make alcohol is right around maybe 5 cents a gallon in large quantities.
in many cases that's cheaper than electricity something's just not adding up there.
Great video, when I tried to copy u it didn't work so I am doing something wrong.
Dave's Chew Review dot Guide did u ever get it to work
Do you have a parts list?
can this gas can explode? wile running on this gastube
Very bad idea to bypass the kill switch.
You are probably getting about 5hp propane has better power than gasoline
That “kill switch” lever you disabled doesn’t just kill the engine...it is actually an engine brake that has a brake pad that immediately stops the flywheel from turning... it is pretty dangerous letting the engine wind down rather than braking immediately in an emergency situation...
Other than that, good info.
So is gasoline! Try helium next time, like the hendin burg?😳