Saving Old Seagulls

after 25 years I resumed my father's Seagull 40 plus (I think he was one of the few in italy having one of them!!) and after half a day of work and thanks to all the suggestions coming from this group I've got it working again. Fantastic!!

After running it at home in a tank I saw thousand of oil droplets floating on top of the water... dumn too much oil will be poured in the sea. I really love my Seagull and the idea to mount it on my boat but I really want to save the sea.

I use fuel mixed 10:1, and I've just replaced the oil in the gearbox.

is it a common problem ? How can I reduce the amount of oil missing?

Thanks in advance for any suggestion.
Max

Thanks for the answer.

Are you saying that a British Seagull is just for Museum and not for a daily usage?

Max

1968 and later 40 series motors can be simply changed to 25:1 fuel mix from 10:1 fuel mix this will reduce the problem somewhat, oil going from 10% of the mix to 4% of the mix. As you may have seen on this site, the needle in the carburetor simply needs changing. This will work with earlier motors as well, however the crankshaft bearing surfaces are not as large on the earlier motors and the motor may only last another 50 years instead of [75 years or so]

You may also want to consider using biodegradable oil for the mix, considerably more expensive, but perhaps worthwhile. At least, you may be able to tell those complain about the oil you are putting in the water that is biodegradable.

Thanks Phil.

I've just ordered to John the needle to change the mix down to 25:1 or so.

Also, I noticed that if I put the Seagull on the floor (fuel tank on the floor) and then I rise it up in the upright position some oil flows out from the two holes immediatly up the gearbox.

is that normal or not?

Maybe is another cause of the oil in the water. In the case, what is the problem and how can I solve it?

Don't worry about the oil in the water. Oil is a natural product, it was made nature, and is broken up by nature. Don't always trust the people you should.
Your oil will make no difference to saving the sea, more oil is dumped into our seas every day than BP managed to lose from their pipe line leaks. The only problem was that it was all in the same place.
Fear not, nature will take care of it.
Philj

This is really interesting about the environment ... http://www.lagerholm.com/seagull/envi.html

position some oil flows out from the two holes immediatly up the gearbox.

is that normal or not?

Sounds like unburned mix oil coming down the exhaust tube. 25:1 will help some but will not eliminate it completely.

AAH now we have a bone of contention. All oils are in some what degradable (if you have a spare century or three) not all TCW 3 oil is BIO Degradable
Most are only semi synthetic. This is in a long way from the spectrum of bio degradability.

I have spent some time researching this area and at present have reviewed info on over 100 different oils under the heading of TC-W3 oils. Most of the major manufacturers make bio two stroke oil but some are astronomically expensive at 10; 1 mix.

Personally I settled on Castrol Biolube 100 not a too pungent mix but extremely effective. My little old 40+ never missed a beat in two weeks hard work at high temperatures and leaned off mix to 16;1 with no problems.


RL-99301K Castrol Biolube 2T
RL-99300K Castrol Greentec 2T
RL-91141E Castrol Marine Biolube
RL-92014E Castrol Outboard 2T
RL-92018J Castrol Outboard Biolube 100
RL-92017J Castrol Outboard Super Plus 2-Stroke
RL-99302K Castrol Outboard Super TT Nautico Plus
RL-60106G Castrol Seamax Outboard 2T
RL-00401J Castrol Super Outboard
RL-81182 Castrol Super Outboard
RL-10081G Castrol Super Outboard Plus
RL-30096E Castrol Super TT Nautico Plus

As you can see Castrol produce 12 two stroke oils in the TC-W3 grade not all bio oils!
If you think I am bias towards Castrol oils I can supply the rest of the oils detailed in the research as the info is to large for one post .

Hello WBG,
I have two spare century's and two 40+'s
Will that make the oil go away quicker? Or is that not what you mean?
Think I will start another topic tomorrow on the subject of the non-eco eco police. (they tell lies you know)
Regards
Philj

I know what you are on about Phil. I have read so much on how the world will turn into a giant fridge.Then they woffle on about global warming!
im not an eco warrior just someone who was looking for some oil to run my seagull.

why dont all you sea huggers simply do your bit by investing in a nice pair of environmentally friendly oars?

philj wrote:.....Oil is a natural product, it was made nature, and is broken up by nature.

So are arsenec and hot lava though no one here would choose to add some to their tea. Odd thing, that, since thay're nnatural after all. Point being that not everything that came from miles beneath the earth belongs mixed up with the oceans or in the food chain.

......more oil is dumped into our seas every day than BP managed to lose from their pipe line leaks. The only problem was that it was all in the same place....

I'd love to see some hard data on that one.

It's really easy to be an apologist for the petroleum industry if you formulate the question to fit a specific answer. That's almost like saying that Hiroshima wasn't so bad for the people who lived there, considering the tens of millions of smoke detectors around the world with radioactive source elements in them; the former simply ocurred in one place all at once. Regarding BP, accidents happen but let's not pretend that it's all just fine if we do that repeatedly, or in piecemeal one person at a time.

Fear not, nature will take care of it.

True enough... the earth will take care if itself given thousands of years. The question is that of the quality of life for our species over the next several generations.

We don't need to hug trees to appreciate the wisdom of reducing the amount of wilful abuse we commit upon our own fishing waters or farmlands by using the least toxic product one can get ahold of.



- end of soap box -


I have yet to find Castrol Biolube in the States, and wish I could get it readily. I've ended up using this partially-synthetic stuff that claims to biodegrade.

How about Canola oil? Looks like it's been done and we'll have to try it out!

http://www.suite101.com/content/biodegr ... ed-a210473

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_spo ... dYsejiEPWO