twin gulls

[david doyle]

Not sure if this is a silly question so apologies if it is out to lunch.

I just bought another seagull. A wipac ingnition FP with a long shaft. I was originally thinking of swapping out parts to make it a short shaft but then I got measuring and it seems it would mount offset on the non cutout portion of my transom. i.e allowing two gulls to be mounted side by each. Would running twin gulls pose any special brand of stupidness?

[Bluecloud]

Sounds like fun to me! Never seen a twin Gull rig, you should proceed just for the sheer hell of it. I will make a prediction tho, bet it's no faster. Feel free to prove me wrong. I await with considerable interest.

[Stelios_Rjk]

In such situation horse power is not just added, you get a percentage. For example if you put 2x10hp you will get something like 15hp but don't count on this calculation, I don't know exactly the final horsepower that two outboards of 10hp each will give. BUT in such conditions with two outboards it is a system installed that controls the rpm of each outboard as it must be the same. Otherwise the boat will turn either to the right or to the left. So you would have great problem in adjusting the engines all the time.

About the dept, seagull has dept adjusting collars.

[david doyle]

Thanks for the input guys. I am not really interested in the speed I was more interested in two motors idling nicely instead of one screaming. I will try it and report when the ice comes off. I would 'nt worry about the RPMs you gotta steer the boat any way so approximate is likely good enough. Good to know about the collars but I wont need them as my transom is perfect for a long shaft offset to one side with a short shaft in the transom cut out. Was measuring and plotting today and it looks like the short shaft would be locked dead ahead and the offset motor would be used for steering. The immediate benefit is it means that you can sit in the center of the boat instead of needing to sit to one side to reach the tiller. I am pretty sure that I am going to be happy with the long shaft offset all the time even if I am only running one motor. Man these gulls are addictive!

[Stelios_Rjk]

Man these gulls are addictive!

Totally!! Waiting to see your twin Seagull boat!

[Keith.P]

I did something like this some 25+ years ago in the Scouts, two seagulls on the back of a coypu I think it was, on the local river, the boat was a bit overloaded to counter the weight of two seagulls and it was working well until we got to a low bridge.
So with an overloaded boat two direct drive gull's on a boat with a mast and a low bridge and blind panic, the good old days.
If I remember rightly cavitation was a little bit of a problem, with two props rotating in the same direction.

[phil]

Sounds to me like you need to find another long shaft for a balanced setup. Motor collecting can be addictive!
As some of my friends on the AOMCI.org site say, " Get out while there is still hope"

[1650bullet]

Most twin prop motors (Both in or outboard need to be counter rotating because of the cavitaion you could encounter.

[david doyle]

Darn I never even thought about the props spinning the same way. Thanks for saving me from getting too in love with the idea. Guess the only solution is to find a 102 cc gull.......

On the plus side I am very smitten with the offset long shaft. really makes the boat alot more comfortable.

Thanks again for the thoughts and knowledge.

[Charles uk]

Many people race twin Seagulls, one fixed, one steering, not much quicker but it works OK.

Twice as much chance of one failing.

[Oyster 49]

Yes, but a 50% chance of getting home for last orders..

[david doyle]

I am with Oyster on that call! If one might fail in a tandem situation then one is certainly going to fail in a "this or oars" situation.

[weddigen]

I often go out with two motors on the transom,it means I can cover distances a fair bit quicker compared to using a single motor,then I can uptilt one of them
and operate on the other.It's great to have a reserve so to speak -if you get badly weeded or whatever.Regarding Cavitation? I don't seem to have a problem
perhaps because I use a short shaft Century and a long shaft Century -maybe the height difference helps? The only hassle I have is carrying two fuel tins-10:1 and 25:1.As I said Speed is noticeably increased ( cant really say by how much) .The boat is a 14 FT GRP and doesn't seem to mind the arrangement. With regard to noise -two seems no worse than one!

[Collector Inspector]

Dave

Pics of the "ICE" aye?

We get so little ice down here you know........

B

[david doyle]

Collector,

Not sure if you were pulling my leg or if you were serious but here goes:

Ice came on early this year. Here is a pic of the second day that my hunting lake was froze over. 2 days before it was open water, the day before this we were walking on a couple few inches of ice to get to the potholes which held 1000s of waterfowl.

As you can see a cheap kayak is used for 'saftey' when on the thin ice. also makes a good seat and with an old sheet you disapear.




Here is a pic of some goose decoys on the ice, I place ultralight dark grey tarps on the ice and it simulates open water.


The arrival of ice spells doom for many critters. Lots of ducks get froze in and the coyotes have a field day. This guy in teh video could not resist a squeaky distress signal. He had previously investigated my decoys. The day before a half dozen birds were frozen and doomed in the water adjacent to where I was set up, I am sure he was coming back for seconds.