A bit quiet on here recently so I thought i'd try and get some discussion happening...
What was your first ever outboard motor? The very first that you got...
Probably not all going to be Seagulls, so we'll see what happens.
My first one was a 1968 5hp Johnson (Australian edition). Bought it in 2012 for $50 AUD. A replacement fuel pump, new ignition (coils, condensers, points etc) and impeller later she ran even if only briefly. Then a good replacement powerhead and she is one of my most reliable motors.
Cheers
BP
Last edited by AusOB_Collector on Mon May 16, 2016 2:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Too many Seagulls to count now!
Member SOS, AOMCI,
President of AOMCI's WOOC chapter
A 1965 V4 Johnson 60hp. It was on the back of a skiboat l bought in the mid seventies. A ferries backwash sunk it off the Opera House to the amusement of Japanese tourists. I was at the pub at the time. It was Australia Day.
1978 silver century plus standard shaft, bought for £50 from ebay nearly 6 years ago when i first got into outboards as a hobby.
I still have it now, and is one of my "go to every time" motors for when i go fishing on the reservoirs. Not fast at all (in fact it's one of the slowest seagulls i have) but fairly reliable. Common as muck really.
A Piaggio Moscone, actually my Father's rather than mine, as then I was ten or twelve. (1946/'48)
We never were able to get it work properly, so we soon replaced it with a Johnson 5 Seahorse.
Later I bought a Fourty Plus - new (still going), then a Johnson 4, then a Yamaha 3 hp Malta.
Now it should be for life, but you never know.
My first was also going to be my last, but then the bug set in.
Might give some clues as to my user name.
I'm yet to decide a color for the tank aye.
Well, that's for collectables anyway. My very first was a 150hp V6 Mercury Blackmax which has since been replaced with a 200hp EFI V6 Mercury Saltwater Series.
Yes, and thirsty at over 80 litres per hour WOT. That said, the Blackmax (carb engine) consumed around 120 litres per hour WOT, so the EFI is much better albeit still a guzzler.
If I can score a good used 3.2L 225hp Optimax at the right price, I'll be tempted to upgrade again. More power, torque, speed and lower fuel consumption and emissions. Might encourage me to use the boat (temporarily named "the garden gnome") again.
Johnson 4 hp sea horse twin cylinder, bought new. never let me down and it got hammered net fishing for salmon on the river dee wales.
just like your first car you never forget it.
Chrysler 3.5hp in my early teens, my father bought a little cabin cruiser with a Chrysler 55 and a 7.5 aux as well as the tender with the 3.5 which I used constantly, all three motors were rubbish, the 55 was terribly unreliable, the auxiliary even worse and from what I remember the 3.5 was ok-ish. We always carried a heavy anchor for carrying out repairs at sea.
My school friend at the time had a converted pedalo with a seagull on the back, we were always in the water, my little tender was much faster but his kept going, that I guess was my first introduction into Seagulls about 1981/82
