Saving Old Seagulls

Hey all, I love my WSPCL - silver century with clutch seagull and don't believe I'll ever want to part with it as a primary or secondary motor-

however like a fool I wrapped the prop up with a dock line which stopped the prop with the engine still going. After I got the rope out, I noticed I had about 1/5th of the normal power - the prop would still spin, but nowhere near as fast as I knew it should.

I have it off the boat, live in SF bay area, and was hoping to get it running again by thursday night. Any tips as to what I should look for or opinions/advice on what I screwed up with it?

Thanks for any help!

Any strange noises? I'm thinking you might of ground up some teeth in your gearbox or the drive shaft has rusted and sheared and is still binding enough to rotate the prop a bit. Naturally l assume you have checked the shear spring which is designed to break in these circumstances.

No strange noises in our out of the water, clutch in or out. Just painfully loud seagull sounds as normal.

Remove the lower unit & drive shaft & check everything that you've removed.

Has your Seagull always lived in the salty bay area?

I'm at work so will be able to check it all out later today. Stay tuned for pics, thanks a lot for the suggestions. Didn't bother checking the spring as I had to hoist the main ASAP to avoid a collision while using a minn kota to stay nose into the wind...

No nasty noises gives me confidence that it is not something seriously amiss. Fingers crossed the spring has sheared and there is enough friction on prop/shaft to turn the prop. Incidentally turn the prop and see what you can feel with motor stationary.

100% on Hugo's good advice, check the prop spring, and take it from there. The spring is designed that way.

Thanks all, you can tell I'm a newb - it was the spring! Pics as promised, including my tool casualties (was going to take off gear box cover vut decided against it).

Also, how do i remove the prop (if i wanted to)? Just pull harder or is there a trick?

Lastly, i see a lot of listings for "seagull spring". Are they all the same size?

Same springs best ordering from John (s.o.s )then you know what your getting

The prop will slide off with a bit coaxing. Sometimes the slotted bit of the shaft widens and needs to be closed up a tad.

I remember kicking my diesel over one morning and popping into gear and noticed my tender come tearing towards the stern. For a split second l was convinced the dinghy had turned into a demented creature from hell and l was under attack before it dawned on me that the painter was becoming twirled up into the prop. Needless to say l needed a dip with a shiv to cut it away. I added cork floaters to the painter line after that.