Com-Pac 16 kicker

[Steve Ullrich]

Thanks everyone.  I'll watch Craig's List in the Minneapolis area for a long shaft 4 cycle engine between 2 and 4 hp. 

[Rick Klages]

The Nissan 2.5 AKA Tohatsu, is a 4-stroke, so no oil in the water.  Yes, we owned the Honda 2 hp for several years and hated it.

I did not know the 2.5 was a 4 stroke!  Most folks who have lived with the little Honda think they are just great.  Perhaps you had a lemon. It appears that the Tohastsu/Nissan might be a good alternate to the honda (for fresh water especially).  If my Tohatsu quit today I wouldn't waste any money fixing it (I do maintain it however).

ick

[Smitty]

My CP 16 came with an old British Seagull. According to the model number it was made between 69 and 79, evidently they did not change the design much since they started making them back in the 30's. Looks much older than it actually is.   It is not currently running, however I am going through it and hopefully will have it up and going soon.  I suspect it makes a much better anchor than an outboard motor but I do want it running because it is such a novelty.  For now I have a Sea King (Montgomery Ward) 3.5hp 2 cycle works great.

Smitty

[jdonaldson]

Put the big one (5 hp) on our 1969 Westerly Pageant (23 ft. at least 2.5 tons when laden) in 1978.  Against even a mild current, you were virtually dead in the water.  Used a 25 gas: 1 oil mix which produced an enormous cloud of stinking oil smoke, and it fouled the water at an incredible rate.  The design was astoundingly primitive -- even for the Brits -- and it deserved to die, die, die as a manufactured item.  I sold it 3 months after I bought it, bought the early Honda twin cyl. 7.5 hp 4-stroke and never looked back.  The Honda took us all over the Chesapeake many hundreds of miles and for years and years.

Don't pollute the water using it as an anchor.  Send to a recycling yard and watch it crushed for scrap.

My CP 16 came with an old British Seagull. According to the model number it was made between 69 and 79, evidently they did not change the design much since they started making them back in the 30's. Looks much older than it actually is.   It is not currently running, however I am going through it and hopefully will have it up and going soon.  I suspect it makes a much better anchor than an outboard motor but I do want it running because it is such a novelty.  For now I have a Sea King (Montgomery Ward) 3.5hp 2 cycle works great.

Smitty

[Smitty]

I understand this one calls for a 10:1 mix. WOW. I can imagine the cloud of smoke and the oil slick it leaves behind. Like I said I  want to make it run, just cause. Probably keep it for a conversation piece.  Strange, weird and primitive looking.

Smitty

[Craig Weis]

For 5 hp AIR COOLED 4 cycle Briggs and Straton offers a dandy little outboard.
I have seen them new for around $700 bucks on the net. See Frappr for pic & description.

Can't be a 10:1 MIX.  A 40 TO 50 :1 maybe. I don't think it would run at 10:1.
It would have great compression, since fluids don't compress. Oil won't vaporize but the gas will and the flame temperature would be so cold that the oil won't burn very well, but fouled spark plugs are in it's future.
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[Smitty]

Google British Seagull, everything from 1931 to 1978 was 10 to 1, besides it says so on the motor.  I know it does not seem right but that is what it calls for.

Smitty

[Craig Weis]

Only the Brits...Not that I don't believe you...but having an exclusive 'Nothing but British Motor Car' restoration shop for years in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, Fourintune Garages Incorporated, I understand how screwy motors from the UK can be.
So what is the Seagull outboard oil weight recommended? Just curious.

To illustrate the V-12 aeroplane fighter engines from WWII built by the Brits had oil tanks sized to run out of oil at about the same time as the fuel ran out. They could not fix the oil consumption so they just engineered around it. Wait!!

That sounds like some of the churns I worked on, to be sure.
How cool is that?
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[Smitty]

The website I found simply said to use high quality 2 cycle oil, I assume an SAE 30 non detergent oil would work since that is what everyone used before they started making products labeled "2 cycle oil".  I laugh every time I look at the thing and think about the 10:1 ratio.  One guy on a Seagull forum bragged that his survived total immersion twice, no doubt at 10:1 the thing was so oily as to be impervious to water damage.  Probably able to locate it by the oil slick on the surface.  I'm pretty sure its going to wind up hanging on the wall of my storage as a conversation piece.

Smitty

[Craig Weis]

And well it should, Smitty.
Hang her high. With pride.
"This once powered MY boat. Well sort of"
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[mikew]

I once owned a British Seagull motor and bought it new, 1978.   I picked it up from the dealer and it came in a wooden crate from England. I still have the owners manual and yes it ran on a 1:10 oil/gas mix, anything from 2 -stoke oil to SAE 30. The deal was that this mixture would avoid corrosion in the engine. The workmanship was interesting with aluminum, stainless steel, and  bronze and a painted brass gas tank. It was somewhat hard to start- wind the rope around the open flywheel top, prime carb, ( this was a button that pushed the float down to flood carb. ( 10:1 gas mix ran into the water). Then choke and pull rope,- repeat. The motor was water cooled with a muffler but was still rather loud.
What made me sell it was during an overnight on my CP-16 my anchor dragged in soft mud. I heard waves breaking and woke-up 5' from a seawall. Well at 1 AM I proceeded  the above starting procedure. The engine DID start and I was able to safely reset the anchor. After that I bought an Evinrude 4 hp OB with full shift. 
Mike   

[Shawn]

"It is not currently running, however I am going through it and hopefully will have it up and going soon."

There isn't a lot to them so you should be able to get it up and running. They are cool engines in that archaic way. I have a Silver Century Plus longshaft that runs great.

Seagulls appear to be very much a love hate type of things. Those that love them really love them, those that hate them really really hate them. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground.

Shawn

[Liane]

Hi Mike,

I appreciate the clear pics you posted.  I've got a similar mount to yours, only without the red handle shown.  I've got a 4hp suzuki long shaft.

Two main problems:

First, the motor is really heavy and next to impossible to lift out of the water from inside the boat (and even harder from in the water...ha ha). 
I'd be happy to leave the motor dragging in the water when under sail, except that the drag from the shaft makes it impossible to make the sharp turn when you flip the sail in the other direction (I think that's tacking, but not sure).  I only have the problem in one direction (the mount is on the L).

Anyway, although I clearly am new at this, I have found that if I heave the motor up out of the water (i.e. raise the mount up), then I can easily make sure turns in both directions, and all is well.

Problem is:  *I* can't heave it out.  I always have to have some big guy with me to do it, and I'd like to be able to take the girls out solo.

Any suggestions?  Do you have the same problem with drag? With lifting the motor out? 

I've been thinking about a smaller motor, but do sail where there's current and a smaller motor might not do the job (i.e. get me back to the dock when the wind isn't cooperating with my limited skill range...).

Thanks,

Liane

[Greene]

Hello Liane,
The red handle you saw in my pic's (that you said your mount doesn't have)  is used to release the spring tension on the mount to help you lift the motor out of the water.  I actually have to push downward a little to get the handle to release easily.  Once the handles is moved the spring is powerful enough to lift Puppy Power (1952 Evinrude 3 hp) out of the water.  I still use the tilt feature on the motor to raise it even further from the water.  Any amount of my prop or lower unit in the water while under sail really adds drag.  It feels like releasing the emergency brake on your car as you pop it out of the water when under sail.

There is nothing wrong with having .."some big guy with me to do it..." but maybe you should look into a spring assisted mount and/or a lighter kicker to help you out.  It is surprising how many 16'ers rig up an electric trolling motor as a kicker and they all seem to like it.  Can't imagine anything lighter or easier for you to handle.

Mike   

[Craig Weis]

You might try first to push down on the outboard hanging on the extended motor mount while at the same time pulling the 'trigger' used by the hand to release the catch and then pulling up on the 'trigger' and outboard, raising the darn thing out of the water. To really raise the motor to it's max motor mount height I have to fold the handle closed and turn the outboard 90 degrees with my internal gas cap vent closed.

Additionally I made some 2 inch rubber blocks that;
1~Pulls the outboard 2" further away from the transom.
2~Lowers my short shaft 5 hp 2 cycle that weighs 53 lbs 2" inch more into the water.

It is not possible to pick-up the motor till that saw-tooth locking bar is fully released from the 'trigger' that has the two finger horizontal bar to pull on. I sanded mine down smooth, and I had to grind a flat surface on the 'trigger' bar so it would clear the stern rub rail when at it's max closed height. Ground almost to the hole that the finger bar is inserted in, and greased the thing up giving the mechanism a little more wiggle room without effecting the 'holding' operation of the motor mount.
Your probably tired of hearing. It's all in the technique.
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