British seagull outboards.

Capt. Clueless

Capt. Clueless

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Looking around for a small outboard as a back up for my yamaha, I ventured on to Ebay. I was quite astounded at the amount of British Seagulls still kicking about, and the prices being asked for them. Don't think for one minute that I would entertain one, as I couldn't suffer the embarrassment, but are these old smokers still in demand? Do you run one? Or are they predominantly bought as historic curio's to display?
 
we have a couple, noisy rattly old things. Fantastic retro fun. In all seriousness, lightweight and reliable if looked after. a good seagull will push an 18ft boat all over the solent.
We had one particular, a silver century, looked great, was easy to handle... Only ever let us down when we used it. :D
 
Capt. Clueless said:
Looking around for a small outboard as a back up for my yamaha, I ventured on to Ebay. I was quite astounded at the amount of British Seagulls still kicking about, and the prices being asked for them. Don't think for one minute that I would entertain one, as I couldn't suffer the embarrassment, but are these old smokers still in demand? Do you run one? Or are they predominantly bought as historic curio's to display?
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I have two

A 1973 Forty Plus which I bought when only a couple of years old to use with my Mirror dinghy . It has had very little use.

and a 1974 Forty Featherweight which I bought in the early 1980s to power my 8 ft plywood tender. Not had a great deal of use and still in pretty good shape.

Both have been converted to run on a 25:1 fuel mix so don't smoke like they did when run on 10:1.
 
They've been through a period when their use was primarily as anchors and have found a new life reliably throbbing away on the transoms of appropriate craft. There are also a couple of specialists who have most if not all of the bits.

I sold one recently to someone whose daughter was going to rebuild it.
 
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.
 
I seem to recall some problems starting it at Port at Louis - mind you it hadn't been used for years!
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.
Click to expand...
 
My forty featherweight runs reliably on 1:20 but won't take 1:25. I followed the instructions from John of saving old seagulls and got a new needle from him. You need to experiment with mixture/needle to get the optimum mix. I think in the end I returned to the original needle and just tweaked various screws.?
 
Seagulls are pretty bullet proof and don't seem to suffer from carb problems like modern small outboards. The fuel pump is also very simple and never needs a new impeller - mines got the original one from 1967. I'm not keen on the exposed rotating magneto though and would be very wary of using it in the vicinity of children.
 
ghostlymoron said:
Seagulls are pretty bullet proof and don't seem to suffer from carb problems like modern small outboards. The fuel pump is also very simple and never needs a new impeller - mines got the original one from 1967. I'm not keen on the exposed rotating magneto though and would be very wary of using it in the vicinity of children.
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You can get a cover kit if you convert to recoil starter, but it ruins the purity and simplicity a tad. I know what you mean about the scary spinning flywheel, my son used to drag spanners, fingers, anything he could get hold of, across as it ran, little ratbag.
 
solent clown said:
You can get a cover kit if you convert to recoil starter, but it ruins the purity and simplicity a tad. I know what you mean about the scary spinning flywheel, my son used to drag spanners, fingers, anything he could get hold of, across as it ran, little ratbag.
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But beware of the open cage design of recoil starter. IIRC British Seagull would not fit then because they felt they were dangerous. The proper Seagull one fitted to later engines are fully enclosed
 
ghostlymoron said:
I'm not keen on the exposed rotating magneto though and would be very wary of using it in the vicinity of children.
Click to expand...

My main memory of a Seagull is as a small child being whipped across the ear by the knot on the end of the starter rope as my dad tried to make it go :)

Pete
 
ghostlymoron said:
My forty featherweight runs reliably on 1:20 but won't take 1:25. I followed the instructions from John of saving old seagulls and got a new needle from him. You need to experiment with mixture/needle to get the optimum mix. I think in the end I returned to the original needle and just tweaked various screws.��
Click to expand...

I have had to screw down the mixture adjustment screw slightly beyond the normally recommended limit to get it to run without excessive 4 stroking ( Villiers carb)

It is not happy with stale petrol but is usually Ok with last years 50:1 with extra oil added
 
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