British seagull outboards.

pcatterall said:
We have one for our avon redcrest. As Coral Wind herself approaches her 50th birthday we like to maintain the 'classic look' !
As we use the dinghy very little the engine is ideal due to its really light weight and reliability. yes we do sometimes have to fiddle about after winter lay up but it is so simple that we can do it with basic tools. Once set up she will start second pull every time.
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2nd pull.... Yours must be duff then. Both mine (10:1 with cheap straight 30 oil, none of this expensive two-stroke oil muck) were always first pull start every time, winter or summer. Do you tickle the carb if cold?

I love the simplicity and reliability of Seagulls, but now have a couple of 3.3/3.5 Tohatsu based two-strokes. Often two or three pulls to start, have to strip the carbs occasionally if unused for any time, but minimal smoke and no leaving behind a patch of oil-stained water after tickling the carb.
 
Got one in the shed,pushed a 27 footer through the French canals,gave it to a fisherman 30 years ago and he gave it back to me last year,still running,,but I have no use for an outboard 450 mars above sea level so will hand it on to my children!
 
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC said:
There is a Seagull at the bottom of the sea near the Wash. I threw it overboard in 1997. Since then, I have been buying reliable four strokes.
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I have indeed been considering anchors, but I think that Seagull's are too light for my vessel. I got a scar on the back of my head from the knot of the pull cord when I was 9 years old. Don't really know what happened to that thing but my granpa was not known for his patience. I never seen it after...the 2 stiches and the hours of Granny lecture for Grandpa’s that come home with hurt kids.
 
LOL - I'd love to know more about the human behaviour that seems to attract people to the area behind the person trying to start an errant outboard motor.

I was a Seagull owner for a while: I bought one shockingly cheap and found that I had to sit on the stern of my E-Boat to keep the prop in the water, but at least it was reliable and had far more character than the Mercury outboard that followed it.

On the subject of reliability; my old Suzuki 2.2 2-stroke is far more reliable than my much newer Yamaha 2.5 4-stroke. I'm sure I remember reading in 'The Art of Coarse Cruising' about outboards being female. Does this mean I should divorce my Yamaha 2.5 immediately?
 
Having to wear a canvas smock, bible boots, flannels etc was just too much agro when I had mine.

Someone pinched mine when left on the tender for a couple of weeks on the mooring. Or perhaps it fell off. Never heard of anyone nicking one.
 
LONG_KEELER said:
Having to wear a canvas smock, bible boots, flannels etc was just too much agro when I had mine.

Someone pinched mine when left on the tender for a couple of weeks on the mooring. Or perhaps it fell off. Never heard of anyone nicking one.
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I believe that when the yard shed was broken into a few years ago it was the Seagulls that were stolen. but if you left an outboard on a dinghy for a few weeks it would have been stolen whatever the make. Even my oars were stolen!
 
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Twisterowner said:
How can you tell if a British Seagull has been converted to run on 25:1?
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In theory, by examining the jet, which is supposed to be changed. However, I converted my Silver Century simply by filling with 25:1 rather than 10:1. It ran fine, the performance was unchanged and fuel consumption - for reasons I do not understand - halved.

Edit: You change (in theory) the jet on Bing carburettors and the needle on Villiers ones.
 
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dont forget to fill the sump, change the filter, and do the antifreeze too ;)
If like us you tend to occasionally use the prop as a mud whisk, spare drive springs are a very good way out of a lot of heartache.
 
solent clown said:
If like us you tend to occasionally use the prop as a mud whisk, spare drive springs are a very good way out of a lot of heartache.
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My Silver Century used to eat drive springs. It turned out that the prop had been poorly made (why did the Japanese win the outboard motor wars, I wonder?) with a knife edge pressing into the bend in the spring/ A few minutes work with a grinder transferred the drive torque much more evenly and the problem was resolved.
 
JumbleDuck said:
My Silver Century used to eat drive springs. It turned out that the prop had been poorly made (why did the Japanese win the outboard motor wars, I wonder?) with a knife edge pressing into the bend in the spring/ A few minutes work with a grinder transferred the drive torque much more evenly and the problem was resolved.
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Springs were one of our best selling items and very profitable. Yes, the old fan type props were very crude but the newer (post 1979!) weedless props were much better made.
 
Tranona said:
Springs were one of our best selling items and very profitable. Yes, the old fan type props were very crude but the newer (post 1979!) weedless props were much better made.
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In my case I think it was a manufacturing defect rather than anything intrinsic to the design. I bought the outboard cheap, and I suspect that I know why. Alas it's now in bits on the workshop floor and I am looking for a replacement. Anyone like to sell me a nice Silver Century?

I still think than springs are a far better solution than shear pins.
 
Tranona said:
Springs were one of our best selling items and very profitable. Yes, the old fan type props were very crude but the newer (post 1979!) weedless props were much better made.
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At 23p each you must a sold an awful lot to make a significant profit
 
From memory they cost about 5p to make and we bought them tens of thousands at a time. Used around 20000 a year on average on new engines and more than that as spares!
 
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC said:
There is a Seagull at the bottom of the sea near the Wash. I threw it overboard in 1997. Since then, I have been buying reliable four strokes.
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How many of them have you bought?

If you need them in quantity, it doesn't say much for their longevity.

I've had several Jap engines (2str) but the Seagull outlasts them and never has a problem with the jets getting blocked.
 
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