Thread: Old Outboards.

I remember as a kid rowing around the Parramatta River with my brother and a mate in a old wooden dinghy and how jealous we were of another group of kids who had a similar boat with a Seagull outboard. I think it was only about 5hp or something but after rowing against the tide and wind a few times we wished we had one.

Looking at the 130hp Evinrude E-tec on my current boat makes you realise just how far we have come in outboard technology in 40 years.

Thanks for the photos

In my shed I have a long shaft 5hp Seagull that I purchased in 1974.
It was on the back of my first yacht a 22ft Bluebird, see little cropped pic.
I sold the Bluegird, kept the Seagull and bought a 36ft timber Herschel.
Anyway I wanted to modify the Seagull with a long range tank and a recoil starter.
I took it into Seagull to have it modded.
I asked them if they thought it needed an overhaul while they had it and I left it with them.
When I picked it up they told me that they had researched the unit and they gave me its history.
It was a 1939 model that the RN used on the back of a tender to ferry troops off the beach at Dunkirk !!!
They also said that the internals were stainless steel and it would never wear out.
They wanted to buy it or exchange it for a new one.
I refused but had the two mods done.
I call it Winston.


PS: I still have bookwork and stuff that they gave me.
I might leave it to Seagull headquaters in me will.

G'day Robert, Very interesting story mate,quite a piece of history you have there. I can see why they wanted to get it off you mate!!!! Good on you for hanging onto it,does it still work?

Originally Posted by disco man

G'day Robert, Very interesting story mate,quite a piece of history you have there. I can see why they wanted to get it off you mate!!!! Good on you for hanging onto it,does it still work?

It has always worked perfectly, never failed to start and only once faultered when a plug fouled.
I had a look at it a while ago and it needs a good clean up externally and the tank drained and given a run.
Been a year or so and I feel thoroughly ashamed of myself.

Originally Posted by Chenz

I remember as a kid rowing around the Parramatta River with my brother and a mate in a old wooden dinghy and how jealous we were of another group of kids who had a similar boat with a Seagull outboard. I think it was only about 5hp or something but after rowing against the tide and wind a few times we wished we had one.

Looking at the 130hp Evinrude E-tec on my current boat makes you realise just how far we have come in outboard technology in 40 years.

Thanks for the photos

Looking at those photos it seems propeller design has come a long way also.

Originally Posted by disco man

Looking at those photos it seems propeller design has come a long way also.

Not really - the Seagull propeller is low speed, and much more efficient as a result. It pushes a lot better than virtually any other engine of similar power. Most outboards have far less efficient propellers, because the more efficient propeller demands low speed, narrow blades, and large diameter, which have other drawbacks, especially cost.

A bit like airscrews - propellers were far less efficient from about 1915 until the last few decades (and most still are) when research into man-powered flight led propeller technology back to the efficiency levels achieved by Hargreaves and particularly the Wright brothers over a century ago.

(My Seagull is under the bench in the shed, and has magneto problems)

John

Thanks John, the second picture has two prop's that looked very strange to me but your explanation makes sense of it,so a low speed engine needs very little pitch? is that right.

Originally Posted by disco man

Thanks John, the second picture has two prop's that looked very strange to me but your explanation makes sense of it,so a low speed engine needs very little pitch? is that right.

Both those types came with my Seagull but I have never used the four bladed one and I dont know the circumstance in which it would be better than the two bladed thingy.