Saving Old Seagulls

So I found the one application where a seagull is the WRONG motor for the job. Pictured below my new wildfowl hunting sneak boat. You lay in it on your back and propel it into flocks of geese with a scull oar out the transom at the WL. Was planning on mounting a seagull with a chopped down leg but the reality it that the gas drips from a gull are not acceptable when your laying in the bilges ( I refer to the gas that leaks from the carb bowl. Only a problem for this application as the motor needs to be plucked on/ off the transom many times aday and stowed forward for it's wieght and for legality). So I ask those more familiar with the breadth of offerings:

What is considered a good none drippy small outboard? Any other small outboards out there that can be adjusted in the mount like a gull to compensate for the low transom hieght?

perhaps a modern electric. The words "sneak boat" and "seagull outboard" don't seem to go together.

skyetoyman wrote:perhaps a modern electric. The words "sneak boat" and "seagull outboard" don't seem to go together.

SneakBoat indeed......................No Gull there!

B

Thanks for the OMC 3hp suggestion. Is there a sweet spot in terms of years of manufacture?

yeah an electric would have utility but lugging that battery would get old quick and I may hunt away from a charger for multiple days. The noise is not the problem with the gulls the engine would never be used anywhere near the birds ( I think the fine for inappropriate engine use in hunting is likely near 100K) the only porblem with the gull is the gas leaking from the float bowl vents.

If you need transom height adjustment you will probably need to go back as far as late 30s early 40s . OMC Evinrude Mate and Elto Pal had similar height adjustment to what Seagull has. Elto Pal 1941 1.1 hp,next up Elto Ace 1.7 hp IIRC.

Any Omc 3 hp as C.I. mentioned,but no height adjustment, short shaft for 15" transom most common, long shaft for 21" transom but not common. Thought to be one of the best motors OMC made. If you go that route try to find one that has 80 lbs. or more compression cold and dry. They need to have good compression to be able to idle very low which is one of their strong points. Very quiet at low idle, to be run on 16:1 as they have plain bearings. The best ones often have not been run for years as evidenced by cracked coils with a tan colored plastic coating these are the original coils. Also check the top main bearing by checking the stator plate in that area for motor oil.

They were made from 1952-1968 in the 3 hp form so lots to chose from, 1957 and later may be a little easier for parts like cowls, otherwise most parts interchangeable.

Phil;

Thanks alot for the valuable insight. Here is the kicker, There is/was a running elto for sale for 40 bucks when I was travelling recently. It was my intent to go buy it but it was rush hour and the bridges were choked and I already had a trunk full.

I think I am going to shop hard for the 3 hp described and run it deep if the extra back pressure is tolerated. If not I'll clamp a board on the transom. I am not in a huge rush my plan is to be hunting the Fraser estuary in fall 2014 so lots of time to turn up an OMC and fit a fresh coil.

Hi David,
Most parts you will need to refurb. are easy to get. Here are a few sources: http://www.vintageoutboard.com
http://www.marineengine.com both ship out of Washington state. The Sierra coils are as good as or maybe even better than the OMC ones and available at your local NAPA store. Best to stick to OMC brand for the impeller though. There have been some problems with the Sierra ones. Those things are likely all you will need for a refurb. Many in the AOMCI just clean up the points, and go through the carb without getting the kits because they feel the new parts are quite lacking in quality compared to the originals. Small carb parts can be had from marineengine.com so no real need for the kit.

Try to get one with the lower cowls complete, especially the Johnson as the the front carry handle pieces cost a fortune if they are broken or missing. Johnson and Evinrude are identical except for the fuel tank mounting and cowls.
Try to find out what mix it has been run on, 16:1 is the design mix as it has sleeve bearings, 24:1 probably acceptable.
The compression should tell the story there. I would not discount one with 70 lbs. compression as you can usually gain 5-7 lbs compression by truing the head and deck and installing a new head gasket ( breaking head bolts is a danger ) but one does get experience drilling out broken head bolts that way.

Should not be a problem with deeper immersion, the water circulation telltale is a fine spray of water about halfway up the tower. Well maybe starting not sure about that, no problem once running though. Running in a strong following swell with a sailboat it ran fine with water up to the top of the tower and alternately throwing the prop out of the water at the top of the swell. Could have used a long shaft that day!

I have about a dozen of these motors that is how much I like them! Need more info let me know.

Phil,

Your the best.

I should expand on the difference between Johnson and Evinrude 3 hp as I missed a couple of things. Since the tank mounting is different, 3 short oval head 1/4" SAE screws for Johnson and for Evinrude 4 long ( 4+" ) 1/4" SAE filister screws , it means that the recoils are different as Evinrude used the long screws to secure the recoil as well as the tank. Johnson tank secured from below, the 3 short screws for recoil, easy to get in SS.
The fuel taps are somewhat different as well. Also the front carry handles are different, Johnson detachable, Evinrude part of the lower cowl. The Evinrude color scheme is nice, but I think I prefer the Johnson setup better.

Evinrude basically blue and white 1952-early 60s, Johnson '52-'55 Sea Horse green, '56-58 Holiday Bronze ( sort of reddish maroon) and white, '59-'68 White and grey.

The 4" long cheesehead or filister head screws are very difficult to come by inexpensively. I end up making them from lengths of 1/4" SS threaded rod with a head made from the SS nut turned down and slotted then attached by marring the threads above and below the nut. Since the threaded rod protrudes through the nut it gets slotted at the same time.

Well I think your right it wont be hard to track one down. Just gotta get square in my head exactly what I want and find one that I can test compression on.

Did a quick search and this one came up in fresh water country. If it is still around later in the summer I am going to be close to it. Sure are handsome little motors. I like the Evinrude much more then the look of the later johnsons.

If the compression is not adequate they will not be able to idle right down well below (left) of the start area, if it will only idle down to the start spot on the cowl, the compression isn't good enough.
That one does not look too bad.
Check out www.old-omc.de for the sales brochures handy for nailing down the year plus some have motor specs and the designs advantages. Go into the site click on misc., then click on catalog overview, pick your year Johnson or Evinrude, then click on the appropriate page to enlarge.

Forgot to mention there is also the duck twin model, somewhat rarer, tan in color. Later in the mid-sixties a yacht twin model with a 90 deg. lower unit, originally available in three lengths 15", 21", and 30". Never seen or heard of anyone having the 30" lower unit. There is also a folding model from the sixties, they usually quite pricey, especially with the carrying case.
The tank on the one you show appears to make it a 1956.

Last night I put a few extra wraps/tabs of 10 oz cloth connecting sides to transom so now she is ready for the tourque of a 50 year old OMC That and a coat of racing grey paint are gonna make her worthy of keeping up with the tide at least.