Seagull Outboards- trusty workhorse or obsolete headache

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... they are yesterdays technology.

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Really? I thought that two-stroke engines were still being manufactured!

A bit like calling the CRT tube in a telly 'yesterdays technology'. They are still being used, having had only minor design changes since inception.

And I'm sure that there will still be seagull outboards around in working order for many years to come, long after these modern-fangaled minature 2-stroke outboards have died!

Won't be too many years before seagulls are manufactured again. Or, rather, 'restored' in the same way the smack 'Pioneer' was...
 
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... they are yesterdays technology.

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Really? I thought that two-stroke engines were still being manufactured!

A bit like calling the CRT tube in a telly 'yesterdays technology'. They are still being used, having had only minor design changes since inception.

And I'm sure that there will still be seagull outboards around in working order for many years to come, long after these modern-fangaled minature 2-stroke outboards have died!

Won't be too many years before seagulls are manufactured again. Or, rather, 'restored' in the same way the smack 'Pioneer' was...

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I was refering to just a bit more than there basic modus operandi.........Seems to me that you are another misguided soul with funny glasses! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

If you like them, that's just fine, but don't try and justify your liking of them with tripe about how well built they are and how they last for years.............The dinosoars lasted for years, but summat eventually came along that was a step forward in the evolutionary chain, that was somewhat more fit for purpose. You cannot get away from the basic facts, Seagull engines are noisy, they vibrate the fastenings out of your boat, they stink, they pollute, they are GENERALLY unreliable, and worst of all in my mind, they corrode like it's going out of fashion.

Somebody somewhere will always have the exception to the rule, ie. a 70 year old Seagull in mint condition that starts first time.........but it is just that, an exception, face it, they are mostly outdated piles of rapidly corroding scrap!

There use should be banned completely, and immediately, if not sooner, and as for anybody being gullible enough to sink cash into manufacturing them again????

Well, the world is full of Loony's! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
The basic difference between the Seagull and its more modern counterparts was that they did not use engine seals to acheive crankcase compression - they used oil on phosphor bronze bearings. That meant they needed a lot of oil, which the engine was unable to burn completely, so they just dumped it out of the exhaust into the briny.

So we had an engine which tot start required priming the carb by a tickler till it flooded - dropping petrol oil mix into the water. They would then run dropping further oil into the water, On stopping and tipping up yet more oil/ fuel would run out of the carb.

We know now that dumping all this oil into the environment is messing it up. So nostalgia not withstanding these engines are amongst the worst marine polluters in their normal running mode, and as such should be left where they belong - either in a museum or a skip!

It is fro much the same reason that their modern counterparts, giving far less pollution, are being forced out of production.

2 stroke engines are simply not kind to the marine environment.
 
Well, that isn't strictly true, 2 stroke outboards are still available new to commercial operators, ie. Fishermen. As you say, modern two strokes bear no resemblance really to a Seagull. They can be sold new to anyone until stocks at the importers have run out, and as I said beyond that to commercial users.

I agree with what you said about Seagulls, especially liked the bit about getting a bigger hammer! Dunno where the previous poster got the idea that Seagulls will again be in production?? Just isn't going to happen, at least, not as we know them, if it happens at all, it will have to be a 4 stroke version, other wise, they just would not be allowed to sell any??

Hmmmmm, a four stroke Seagull?.....4 valve head, overhead cam, tuned exhaust, fuel injected, turbo charger, Nitrous Oxide kit!!......Woooooooo-Hoooooooo!! I'll have one of them!!

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Always think choice and freedom and wonderful things. Those who want to can enjoy seagulls - those who hate them can never have to use one ever again. The environmental argument suits both too - the seagull owner can be satisfied that the engine has been manufactured in the UK, and is still going. Bit of oily polution, but then no carbon footprint from steaming over a plastic one from slave labourers in Thailand or China, where many 'Japanese' products are made, one which may only last ten years before another must be requisitioned.

The Honda/Suzuki/Tohatsu... owner can be smug that you could drink the water in the flushing tank from these wonders, and salmon return to spawn wherever they have been.
 
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Always think choice and freedom and wonderful things. Those who want to can enjoy seagulls - those who hate them can never have to use one ever again. The environmental argument suits both too - the seagull owner can be satisfied that the engine has been manufactured in the UK, and is still going. Bit of oily polution, but then no carbon footprint from steaming over a plastic one from slave labourers in Thailand or China, where many 'Japanese' products are made, one which may only last ten years before another must be requisitioned.

The Honda/Suzuki/Tohatsu... owner can be smug that you could drink the water in the flushing tank from these wonders, and salmon return to spawn wherever they have been.

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No real argument with any of that Mark, /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Except perhaps your notion about carbon footprints and the "Bit of Oily Pollution"..........that in itself is a fairly big carbon footprint?

You are right of course, that people that love 'em should continue to use them, as long as they are able to. I note, that in your bio you say that you are "keen on Seagulls", but that you prefer to have on piece of modern technology to hand just in case. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I can remember a time that here on the river in Bideford, you would hardly see any other outboard being used, other than a Seagull (yes I am getting on a bit)....... Not anymore though, due to local conditions, people feel that they need something that will start when they want it to and stop likewise without all the fuss of fuel leaks and other fiddling about.

I have to confess to owning a re-built, model 80 with electronic ignition and clutch, that I bought when in a moment of rose tinted, nostalgic, funny specs, mode! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif (I don't get 'em very often)...... To tell the truth though, I have never used the thing. I have a 15 foot clinker Gaffer that I am re-fitting to sell on and it will probably go with that, when I sell her.

Seagulls Rule OK!!...............er, no not really, but it's a nice thought, for some. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
With the greatest of respect Mirelle...

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Just about...don't expect wonders, but a Silver Century Longshaft will move her nicely in light conditions.

[/ QUOTE ]...it was a few years ago(ok...probably about 30 years ago!) that I watched a Sailing barge being manouvred up to the big boat piles(the old MTB docking area) on Brightlingsea hard in quite a fair breeze by the barges dinghy lashed alongside with a Silver Century long shaft revving its guts out, BUT it got the barge to where the skipper needed her to be...and I guess he was helped by the fact it was on the top of tide.

Back to the original question posted, should sazzylou get rid of his Seagull and get one of these modern pieces of Jap Crap? Well, if he wants to, I guess it is down to him, but if he is chucking the Seagull away, I know three people who all want to buy mine off me, and I am NOT selling!!
 
Re: With the greatest of respect Mirelle...

Advert seen in "Exchange and Mart" many years ago:

"18ft Fishing boat for sale, nets and gear included, licensed, Twin Seagulls, ready to go...."

... but just cant start either of them?

And having slammed the old Seagull pretty hard, I have to admit when heart rules head, that even now the sound a distant Seagull across the water on a fine morning instantly conjures up childhood memories of summer hols by the sea ....hearing the engine at least 10 minutes before the boat comes in to sight..... /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif, and the thrill of excitement when for the first time I took my very first OWN boat (a clapped out 17 ft dinghy which even at a fiver was daylight robbery!) out - and yes, with a Seagull on the back.
 
I need to record a debt of gratitude

It was Cobra who introduced me to the British Seagull, and he gave me some excellent advice on buying a secondhand one.

In terms of boating pleasure per pound spent, the Seagull that I bought, with his advice, has been the best bargain in my sailing career.
 
I couldnt put a modern outboard on my clinker dinghy! Just isnt the done thing, you see. So my Seagull is soldiering on, I´ll refit and paint it this year!
 
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Hi

I'm restoring an engineless 22ft Gaffer of unknown design, ( but hull shape similar to a Deben 4 tonner). I just cannot see a modern outboard bolted on to the stern. Can I get a Seagull with enough power to be of use?

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I can remember, not so very long ago, as crew for a beautiful old 50 square metre about 41' long (sorry about the mix of units), a chap came up and said words to the effect of "Good heavens, that's old Sea Scamp, I remember her from way back, no inboard engine then, we had this old Seagull Century, and a plank and two G cramps, if the wind fell light we just G-cramped the plank across the cockpit and put the Seagull on the plank, got us home ...".
Though I imagine it must have taken a while.
 
There seem to be a load of apocryphal stories like this about Seagulls. But in reality, 4 (inefficient) hp on a 40 footer.... ?? pull the other one its got bells on!

I once tried to move a 28 foot cat with a Century+, even in a flat calm it made just over 1kt, and once the head breeze reached F2 the poor thing couldnt cope at all!
 
Ding-Dong....Ding-Dong!.......It's all about them funny glasses again, innit? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
You have to remember that a 40' square meter boat would probably weigh slightly less than an ounce. Plus, there'd be less windage on a monohull. Finally, in anything other than an absolute flat calm you'd sail would you not?
 
[ QUOTE ]
There seem to be a load of apocryphal stories like this about Seagulls. But in reality, 4 (inefficient) hp on a 40 footer.... ?? pull the other one its got bells on!

I once tried to move a 28 foot cat with a Century+, even in a flat calm it made just over 1kt, and once the head breeze reached F2 the poor thing couldnt cope at all!

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Believe it or believe it not, and I really don't care, I have rowed yes ROWED (with assistance of another chap) that very same yacht. If "rowed" is the right term using sweeps.
I admit we did not get it moving very fast, but we did get if moving.
No wind of course.
My little (3hp) Seagull is alleged, and I think it's about right, to produce a static bollard pull of 55 lb so I assume a Century will produce about 100 lb (hence the name presumably). And that's more than I can produce with a sweep.
But a 50 square metre does have a very slippery hull shape.
 
I think you will find the "Century" tag refers to the 100 cc cylinder capacity IIRC, not the bollard pull.

And yes I do believe boats like that can be rowed with sweeps. after all Nelsons day a Cutter (aprox the same hull size, definitely NOT slippery shape, and weighing x100 times more) was pierced for sweeps as standard.

See: Horatio Hornblower rowing the Cutter Witch of Endor out of Nantes after escaping from the demmed frogs. Even Victory could be towed around in a calm by her ships boats....
 
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