I think ¨Mary Rose¨ is a GRP Mirror. I don't remember seein any reinforcements on hìs pictures. Write ¨beermatt¨ a mail via our contact form.
Welcome online!
Gernot H.
Hi Lin,
Welcome to the forum,I have read your other posts and admire your resilience.
I have a Seagull which I intend to use on "McB" as soon as I'm 100% sure that she's running right .I am going to make an aluminium transom guard,ok,I'll get the local suppliers to U bend it for me.It'll slide over the transom where the transom bracket of the Seagull will sit,the clamps will hold it in place and the aluminium will prevent the clamps from damaging the wooden transom when the clamps are screwed tight.As it'll be made form 2mm chequered plate,it should also reinforce the transom.Again I'm following my nose and not sure if this will work or will I need to screw it to the transom which would defeat the purpose. Not that a few more scratches will be noticed among the ones she has picked up this while.Going in for a facelift this winter,new coat or three of two pack.
On my first mirror which is ply, I decided that it was reinforcment I was after rather than protection. The old gull might not be 'that' powerful an engine, but it could still do major damage to old joints etc. With that in mind I cast around for a suitable idea, I discounted aluminium on the basis of electrolysis between it and sea water - all the engine mount I've ever seen on boats are stainless steel, which is really hard to 'work on' at home without the suitable equipment!
I've always found the kitchen to be a source of inspiration - not to mention good things to eat, and it was while I was raiding the cake tin that a possible solution came to me! For a short while Sally (my wife) and I considered running a burger van and even went as far as buying some useful items for it - like catering (A3+) sized chopping boards. These are made from a rather dense but compliant plastic material and come in various colours which chefs used to diferenciate their useage i.e red for raw meet, green for veg etc. Anyway, 'Chipshop' is yellow and we happened to have a yellow cutting board...........
A few minutes negotiation with Sal and I had a large sheet of plastic that I cut and fashioned into two largeish symetrical plates which have been glued and screwed to the transom, on either sid of the tiller mounts leaving enough space for the tiller to be pushed full over. I prepped the surface of the transome with a plate sander fitted with a sheet of 60 grit and used stainless screws and marine epoxy. Just to make doubly sure I also fitted a pair of right angle metal brackets (bent to the correct angle) on either side of the seat, just under the gunwhale. Having checked the engine mounting bracket against the new thicker transome I ran into a slight problem, reinforcing the inner side required me to route off approx half the thickness of the cutting board material, a process simple in execution, but didn;t half produce a lot of plastic shavings!!!
I can now mount my outboard any where I want along the transome, even in the middle if I remove the tiller/rudder unit. I did this in an afternoon, but have yet to put it to the test - as I have a day off tomorrow and need to move the Dinghy out of the yard, it may well be the day! I pretty sure the material I have chosen is both light weight, flexiable and waterproof to boot. I've seen various other methods of doing the same thing mainly with ply or fibreglass, but they don't have all the properties I was looking for!
"I discounted aluminium on the basis of electrolysis between it and sea water"
I'll have to disagree with you there,:-) .Electrolysis occurs when there are two different metals,we'll say stainless and aluminium,or there is a copper content in the alloy.This is usually counteracted,on outboards,by a sacrificial zinc anode.
Aluminium forms an oxide layer which helps prevent it corroding.Otherwise there would be a lot of very wet Delta owners lol
Back in my very early inexperienced days, I had a wooden Mirror and tried using our Seagul Silver Century Plus (from a 17 foot keelboat) on it. The SC+ has a disputed power output, possibly >5HP I understand, and quite heavy. My plan was to just not open it up any more than it felt like it could take..... the problem was you had to keep the revs up to engage the clutch without stalling, difficult on a lively and tempremantal 2 stroke. It generally lurched forward with a right bump, and one of those bumps was a bit too much for the stock Transom. A true testament to the Mirror though - the buoyancy tank seams held true and I carried on motoring around trouble free for the next hour despite the 6x6 inch L shaped crack in the transom and 1 flooded buoyancy tank! It was a bit low in the water at the stern!
The GRP Mirror I have now is quit an old one, and my Dad thinks this may have still been in the days before they realised the strength and flexibility of fiberglass so it was built heavier and stronger than it needed to be, along with lots of thick wooden re-enforcing blocks behind stress points. I've still not risked the big beastly Silver Century plus on it, I now have a Suzuki four stroke 2.5hp. I think it'd be OK without re-inforcement, but precuationarily I use a very very thin piece of ply just to distribute the load a little bit, wrapped up in an towel to avoid scratching. Terribly bodged solution lol but it seems to work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmsDGOy01Ok
I keep meaning to remake the reinforcement panel properly but never get round to it. I've probably eaten up about 20 miles with the engine overall as it is without any bother, a lot of it at full throttle.
Your tray bake transom sounds pretty good, hope the testing goes well!
'Electrolysis occurs when there are two different metals,we'll say stainless and aluminium.'
Exactly, as I tend to use stainless screws rather than brass when working with ply, which is why I went for the plastic option :)
I have to say it works beautifully.... Despite some trepidation on her part I took Sal for a buzz along the estuary yesterday, having forgotten one or two points about starting, we finally got under way and enjoyed the sedate wonder down the channel and back again.
I need to check how far down in the water the exhaust holes are with me sitting in the dinghy, as I suspect they may be lower than recommended. I had to keep the engine on full choke for quite a while - not 100% sure why, but as I get used to the motor perhaps I'll begin to learn its vagaries etc. I'm running it on marine grade two stroke oil gave of next to no white smoke, much to the suprise of my fellow club member(s) who seemed to think that Seagulls were horrible, noisy, smelly things compared to their 'suzuki' outboard lol.
I'm happy with the Gull and the Mirror and look forward to many more happy days out in and around the Exe estuary.
Lin, this site is the "Bible" for Seagull owners and there is just about nothing that John cannot advise you on should you not find what you need on the site.
Good luck,
Dick
PuffinInTegel
Sun, 07/13/2014 - 19:10
Permalink
Matthew should know
I think ¨Mary Rose¨ is a GRP Mirror. I don't remember seein any reinforcements on hìs pictures. Write ¨beermatt¨ a mail via our contact form.
Welcome online!
Gernot H.
haventaclue
Mon, 07/14/2014 - 12:48
Permalink
Hi Lin,
Hi Lin,
Welcome to the forum,I have read your other posts and admire your resilience.
I have a Seagull which I intend to use on "McB" as soon as I'm 100% sure that she's running right .I am going to make an aluminium transom guard,ok,I'll get the local suppliers to U bend it for me.It'll slide over the transom where the transom bracket of the Seagull will sit,the clamps will hold it in place and the aluminium will prevent the clamps from damaging the wooden transom when the clamps are screwed tight.As it'll be made form 2mm chequered plate,it should also reinforce the transom.Again I'm following my nose and not sure if this will work or will I need to screw it to the transom which would defeat the purpose. Not that a few more scratches will be noticed among the ones she has picked up this while.Going in for a facelift this winter,new coat or three of two pack.
Lin
Tue, 07/15/2014 - 19:39
Permalink
On my first mirror which is
On my first mirror which is ply, I decided that it was reinforcment I was after rather than protection. The old gull might not be 'that' powerful an engine, but it could still do major damage to old joints etc. With that in mind I cast around for a suitable idea, I discounted aluminium on the basis of electrolysis between it and sea water - all the engine mount I've ever seen on boats are stainless steel, which is really hard to 'work on' at home without the suitable equipment!
I've always found the kitchen to be a source of inspiration - not to mention good things to eat, and it was while I was raiding the cake tin that a possible solution came to me! For a short while Sally (my wife) and I considered running a burger van and even went as far as buying some useful items for it - like catering (A3+) sized chopping boards. These are made from a rather dense but compliant plastic material and come in various colours which chefs used to diferenciate their useage i.e red for raw meet, green for veg etc. Anyway, 'Chipshop' is yellow and we happened to have a yellow cutting board...........
A few minutes negotiation with Sal and I had a large sheet of plastic that I cut and fashioned into two largeish symetrical plates which have been glued and screwed to the transom, on either sid of the tiller mounts leaving enough space for the tiller to be pushed full over. I prepped the surface of the transome with a plate sander fitted with a sheet of 60 grit and used stainless screws and marine epoxy. Just to make doubly sure I also fitted a pair of right angle metal brackets (bent to the correct angle) on either side of the seat, just under the gunwhale. Having checked the engine mounting bracket against the new thicker transome I ran into a slight problem, reinforcing the inner side required me to route off approx half the thickness of the cutting board material, a process simple in execution, but didn;t half produce a lot of plastic shavings!!!
I can now mount my outboard any where I want along the transome, even in the middle if I remove the tiller/rudder unit. I did this in an afternoon, but have yet to put it to the test - as I have a day off tomorrow and need to move the Dinghy out of the yard, it may well be the day! I pretty sure the material I have chosen is both light weight, flexiable and waterproof to boot. I've seen various other methods of doing the same thing mainly with ply or fibreglass, but they don't have all the properties I was looking for!
Hope this helps.
Regards Lin.
haventaclue
Wed, 07/16/2014 - 13:24
Permalink
"I discounted aluminium on
"I discounted aluminium on the basis of electrolysis between it and sea water"
I'll have to disagree with you there,:-) .Electrolysis occurs when there are two different metals,we'll say stainless and aluminium,or there is a copper content in the alloy.This is usually counteracted,on outboards,by a sacrificial zinc anode.
Aluminium forms an oxide layer which helps prevent it corroding.Otherwise there would be a lot of very wet Delta owners lol
beermatt
Fri, 07/18/2014 - 11:58
Permalink
Not all Seaguls are the same
Back in my very early inexperienced days, I had a wooden Mirror and tried using our Seagul Silver Century Plus (from a 17 foot keelboat) on it. The SC+ has a disputed power output, possibly >5HP I understand, and quite heavy. My plan was to just not open it up any more than it felt like it could take..... the problem was you had to keep the revs up to engage the clutch without stalling, difficult on a lively and tempremantal 2 stroke. It generally lurched forward with a right bump, and one of those bumps was a bit too much for the stock Transom. A true testament to the Mirror though - the buoyancy tank seams held true and I carried on motoring around trouble free for the next hour despite the 6x6 inch L shaped crack in the transom and 1 flooded buoyancy tank! It was a bit low in the water at the stern!
The GRP Mirror I have now is quit an old one, and my Dad thinks this may have still been in the days before they realised the strength and flexibility of fiberglass so it was built heavier and stronger than it needed to be, along with lots of thick wooden re-enforcing blocks behind stress points. I've still not risked the big beastly Silver Century plus on it, I now have a Suzuki four stroke 2.5hp. I think it'd be OK without re-inforcement, but precuationarily I use a very very thin piece of ply just to distribute the load a little bit, wrapped up in an towel to avoid scratching. Terribly bodged solution lol but it seems to work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmsDGOy01Ok
I keep meaning to remake the reinforcement panel properly but never get round to it. I've probably eaten up about 20 miles with the engine overall as it is without any bother, a lot of it at full throttle.
Your tray bake transom sounds pretty good, hope the testing goes well!
Lin
Fri, 07/18/2014 - 12:12
Permalink
'Electrolysis occurs when
'Electrolysis occurs when there are two different metals,we'll say stainless and aluminium.'
Exactly, as I tend to use stainless screws rather than brass when working with ply, which is why I went for the plastic option :)
I have to say it works beautifully.... Despite some trepidation on her part I took Sal for a buzz along the estuary yesterday, having forgotten one or two points about starting, we finally got under way and enjoyed the sedate wonder down the channel and back again.
I need to check how far down in the water the exhaust holes are with me sitting in the dinghy, as I suspect they may be lower than recommended. I had to keep the engine on full choke for quite a while - not 100% sure why, but as I get used to the motor perhaps I'll begin to learn its vagaries etc. I'm running it on marine grade two stroke oil gave of next to no white smoke, much to the suprise of my fellow club member(s) who seemed to think that Seagulls were horrible, noisy, smelly things compared to their 'suzuki' outboard lol.
I'm happy with the Gull and the Mirror and look forward to many more happy days out in and around the Exe estuary.
Lin.
dictate
Fri, 07/18/2014 - 14:19
Permalink
Gull Info
Lin, this site is the "Bible" for Seagull owners and there is just about nothing that John cannot advise you on should you not find what you need on the site.
Good luck,
Dick
http://www.saving-old-seagulls.co.uk/
haventaclue
Sun, 07/20/2014 - 22:10
Permalink
Complete gentleman.
Complete gentleman.
And will answer your questions over the phone no problem