Saving Old Seagulls

Hi all,

New here, but have been pushed around by a Seagull on & off for many years now.

Currently, I have a Silver Century plus which I carry as an auxiliary/back up engine on my Seamaster 23 cruiser, just in case it's Perkins ever lets me down.

Now, I've just 'inherited' a 2.6 meter Avon rib dinghy which I am thinking I may use as a tender, it's rated for an outboard up to 6HP, so I was thinking I could use my trusty old Seagull as it's motor, thus having one outboard doubling up as both tender power & auxiliary engine. However, in the original sales brochure for the Silver Century plus shown on the SOS site, it states quite clearly that this is "NOT suitable for light dinghies or inflatables" The question I have is why ? It's reasonably light weight & falls well within the HP recommendations for the Avon, what would be the implications of using it ?

Reading the other brochures, it would appear a 40 featherweight or equivalent might be more suitable for the dinghy, but I don't want to end up with separate outboards for the tender & my auxiliary engine, & I think a 40 may struggle to move a 23 foot 2.5 ton cruiser in anything other than a mill pond.

What do you all think ? Would my Silver Century be ok on the dinghy ? Or should I look to find something else that would double up for both jobs ?If so, what ?

Best regards, Tim

Hi Tim

Welcome to the forum!

On my old 2.6m inflatable, I have used almost all my seagulls with no troubles. I have used my LLS (Century standard), my 102 (standard) and my 40+ (SJP).

Being an Avon RIB, I can't foresee any possible woes you might have with your Silver Century as long as you're not trying to get anywhere fast. My 2.6m inflatable wasn't a RIB and I had no troubles...

More input will come soon I'm sure.

By the way, we all like pics here!

Cheers
BP

On my 2.6m I have used small seagulls and other motors, I maxed it out with a Evinrude 4.4 and being an inflatable its never going to be fast.
I have used 102's on my 8ft tender and I have had to lift the motor up higher, but not tried it on my 2.6m as yet, so I don't know how stable it would be with a very low transom, which I think maybe the issue.

+1 one on everything said, including the welcome

Welcome to the forum.
I have a 2.6 meter Zodiac that i sometimes use. The zodiac is rated up to 25hp beleive it or not (solid transom) although it's more at home with something quite a bit smaller where i tend to use it. Reservoirs and rivers mostly.

The height that you set the motor onto the transom will be your biggest issue. Too deeply immersed and the motor might perhaps struggle to start as with a standard or longshaft motor. (too much water up the exhaust tube will dramatically increase the back pressure)
Hence the smaller sized 40 plus and minus are often a good choice for smaller craft with low transoms.
Try your 100 plus on the back with a height adjusting block (a jubilee clip works just as well) and set the motor so that the pinch bolt on the torque tube is about level with the water. Dont expect to go waterskiing with a 100 plus, they're not up to it.
Being an inflateable you can expect to get blown about in the wind too, mine does all the time with a standard shaft 102 on the back but that's half the fun.
Slow and steady wins the day

Jon

I have a 3.4m Avon inflatable with a V keel, and I use a Silver Century (4 blade weedless prop) on the back with no problems. We had it loaded down with 100Kg of dive kit and it never missed a beat. I raised the motor up the drive tube with a jubilee clip to get the depth right as its a low transom. It wasn't fast, but it got us to where we wanted to go and back again. I found that half throttle was a good compromise between fuel economy and noise. Full throttle didn't go any faster, just drank more fuel.

Thanks for the replies & welcomes gents, my instinct is to try it & see how it goes, I'm certainly not looking for or expecting speedboat performance I was just a bit concerned why Seagull state in capitals NOT suitable etc

The dinghy has a three piece solid floor & a good solid ply transom & from memory it's not too low, it's a while since I've seen it all pumped up & assembled. When I get a chance I'll have to inflate it & take some measurements for reference.

As the freeboard is the same for the 40+, century & century +, with only the featherweight being a couple of inches less, the only thing I could think of was that the big hydrofan prop might produce too much thrust ?

A couple of pic's of the dinghy, courtesy of my friend & previous owner. One of my Seamaster 23, sadly not from the right end to show the Seagull And now a couple of the Silver century plus in question. Sorry they're not very good & that I can't get the first to rotate, it's fine on my PC !
It appears I don't have many photo's of it, I'll try to get some better ones in due course.
All the best, Tim

Hello Tim

From your seagull pics it looks like your motor had been 'shortened'!
You might have a perfect compromise with the motor and the boat as a result.

Cheers
BP

Definitely shorter, about three or four inches shortened, even better for what you are doing.

That's interesting, I'd never really compared it to another or looked at what the overall length should be. I now see that as a std shaft century + it should be 41.5", mine measures 37.5", same as a std century or 40+ should be.

Could it be a mongrel ? or could someone simply have done a cut & shut job ? It's been done well if that's the case. Is this kind of thing common ?

I don't know any history, I actually purchased it at a local village auction about 8 years ago, it wasn't something I even had a use for at the time but there wasn't much interest in it, & it looked like it may go to a local scrap dealer, so I decided to save it. I'm a bit soft like that , anything old, especially if it has an infernal combustion engine pricks my interest. Now it turns out that it's just that little bit more special

Regards, Tim

Glad to have you aboard Tim

Arrr...You spoke as below aye.

"I'm a bit soft like that , anything old, especially if it has an infernal combustion engine pricks my interest. Now it turns out that it's just that little bit more special "

Ya Gunna fit right in with the crew.....that I am Shore.....

Regards

BnC

Hi Tim

Here in Australia, I have seen a number of Seagulls that have been modified in that way, but the ones I've seen have all been 102 models.
Definitely a home-made job, Seagull never offered an extra-short-shaft model.

Have you had it running yet?

Cheers
BP

Collector Inspector wrote:Glad to have you aboard Tim

Ya Gunna fit right in with the crew.....that I am Shore.....

Regards

BnC

Why thankyou kind sir

AusOB_Coll]ector wrote:Hi Tim

Here in Australia, I have seen a number of Seagulls that have been modified in that way, but the ones I've seen have all been 102 models.
Definitely a home-made job, Seagull never offered an extra-short-shaft model.

Yes, I knew they only offered 'standard' or 'long' shaft, but hadn't realised the plus should be 4" longer than a std century, which made me wonder if someone had used parts from a std to shorten my plus. What length should the torque tube, exhaust etc be on a std century ?

AusOB_Coll]ector wrote:
Have you had it running yet?

Cheers
BP

Yes, I had it running in a tank within about an hour of getting it home. All it needed was the usual cleaning of the points & the fuel system & some fresh fuel. I've since given it a good service & tried it out on a friends fishing dinghy on the Norfolk broads & also made sure it would act as an emergency engine on my cabin cruiser. That's where the extra 4" would be an advantage, hung on an auxiliary outboard bracket & lowered into the water, it's a bit low for starting & steering, but still better than being stranded

Regards, Tim