Florida marketer spends own time converting airboat to run on propane

Airboats have been a lifelong interest of 40-year-old Florida native Justin Parish, who’s making waves in the boating and propane industries.

The young propane marketer, who operates family-owned Par Gas Inc. in Bushnell, Fla., 50 miles north of Tampa, recently completed a propane project that was two years in the making. Parish built what he believes is the first alternative fuel boat by converting an airboat to run on propane.

“When I was younger, my uncles always had airboats, running them around cow pastures, little ponds or rivers,” Parish says.

Already having family ties to the propane industry, Parish set out on a personal project with help from a cousin, friends and subcontractors that seemed a natural fit. He also was motivated by the environmental and cost benefits of a propane-fueled engine – “I’m also a hunter, and most hunters are environmentalists,” he says.

Parish used IMPCO aftermarket conversion equipment from Rutherford Equipment. The Bullfrog Marine airboat with a Chevy engine is equipped with two 40-pound forklift cylinders, and early tests showed propane burn rates of five gallons over four hours. The tanks will fuel the boat for about 20 hours, he estimates.

“There’s very little pollution; my gas never goes bad, and I don’t have to worry about the jets in my carburetor sticking because of ethanol in the gas,” Parish says. “It’s reliable. Plus, if I happen to sink the airboat, my tank becomes a flotation, and there’s no spillage into the water if I do.”

While “everybody wants to race their airboat, and it is a man thing,” Parish says he doesn’t need the speed. He only wants the ability and power to navigate the waters – and land – to reach his destination. Whether Parish is fishing or taking his family for a ride, his 14-foot airboat allows for that versatility.

“It’s different than driving a regular boat,” Parish says. “It’s the closest thing to flying without leaving the ground. It’s the best feeling. You take it out to what we call flats – 12-inch-deep water. It’s almost like it will hypnotize you. To me, it would be like being on a hovercraft, very tranquil.”

The propane airboat project, which totaled about $12,000, was Parish’s personal quest and kept separate from his work at Par Gas. Yet, it could eventually open opportunities for his company and the propane industry since airboats are common in Florida among various state and federal agencies, and Parish “is fixing to show the boat” to them. Airboats are also popular in the Midwest, Alaska and Canada, Parish adds, and can be run on snow.

“I’m trying to help the industry in another avenue,” Parish says. “There’s no other gas person who owns a company and can say, ‘Hey, I built a propane-powered airboat.’ I built a whole new market to sell gas.”

Watch a video of Parish’s propane airboat. And for more on the airboat, see Opening Delivery.

TEAM LEADER: Justin Parish, manager and vice president
LOCATION: Bushnell, Fla.
FOUNDED: 1994
EMPLOYEES: 8
CUSTOMERS: 3,000
GALLON SALES: About 1 million annually
ONLINE: www.pargas.com