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40 Minus
(Based on a late 1950's brochure)
For Tiny Dinghies
The first Little Model 40 was born in 1949 and was welcomed at once by thousands (yes, we mean thousands) of owners of tiny dinghies. Now after some years of keeping a watchful eye on those thousands (repeat thousands) in service we offer it in a most highly-developed, lightened and more powerful version. It has been perfected and standardised and given the apt new title of 'The 40 Minus'.
In effect this bantam of the SEAGULL brood is a miniature of its larger brothers packed with all the well-known SEAGULL features. They are squeezed into the lightest, smallest form that doesn't involve sacrificing any of the rugged, seaworthy qualities which have made SEAGULL motors literally world-famous for salt-water service in all weathers and climates.
Having achieved as near perfection as is possible in the light of present knowledge about gasolene engines we have frozen the design for a considerable time to come and concentrated on getting the price down. And we've done it.
The little featherweight will cost you less than the first lightweight outboard we ever made back in 1933... with money at today's value that represents about half the 1933 price... Pretty good... don't you think?
The 40 Minus packs as much driving power as four stalwart oarsmen, takes up less room than a pair of paddles and is just as reliable. It will run all day flat out, towing half-a-dozen other dinghies if needed, and yet throttle back to dead slow for unlimited fishing. Or it will tick over amiably for a few moments embarking and disembarking, so that even in the tiniest dinghy your passengers can be put aboard or picked up with almost impossible ease without stopping the engine.
Without doubt this little fellow is the ideal power unit for small scows and prams. Such tiny craft, because they are so inexpensive, enable countless rather hard-up youngsters to cut their boating teeth. The 40 Minus is inexpensive too! Mere cockleshell dinghies, because they are so light and portable, give many, many families, whose homes are inland, but whose hearts are at the sea, a change to get afloat. It takes up hardly any room in the boot of a car and weighs so little that even an eight-year-old can carry it. In price and weight alike it matches tiny dinghies.
So here it is, dainty but tough, ready to help you get the best out of any little boat. But remember it is meant for little dinghies. You can't harm the motor by running it at full throttle, but a big dinghy in a strong wind and tide needs the extra power of the wonderful 40 Plus, Type LS, described next door.
Brief Characteristics
- Horse-power category 1-1 1/2.
- Weight 26 lb (with bracket stripped for carrying).
- Driving depth to suit 14 in. freeboard (top of transom bracket to water-line).
- Reduction gear ratio 10-21.
- Propeller 6 in. diameter, 4-bladed.