Sears and Roebucks Catalog/Department Store

   In 1886 Richard W Sears founded the R.W. Sears Watch Company in Minneapolis. The following year he moved business to Chicago. Mr Sears advertised for a Watchmaker and hired Alvah C Roebuck. In 1893 the Sears, Roebuck and Company was incorporated.

   The first large general catalog was introduced in 1896. The first retail store was opened in Chicago, in the year of 1925, with many more to come. We could write pages on the history of Sears, but this page is about Outboard Motors.

   Sears and Roebucks started selling outboard motors in their 1914 catalog. They were selling outboard motors using their brand name "Motorgo". Their outboard line grew through the years with many different manufacturers.

   Sears has change their brand name a few times over the years. Their first brand name was "Motorgo" from 1914 through 1932. These early motors were made by Lockwood, Muncie Gear, and Caille. Not necessarily in that order.

   In 1933 through 1935 they were called Water Witch, made by Muncie Gear. In 1936 name was changed to Waterwitch (one word). These outboards were manufactured by Kissel Industries from 1936 through 1945.

   In 1946 when West Bend took over production, the name changed to Elgin. They remained Elgins until 1964 when the name was phased out to the brand name "Sears".

   In the later years there were brand names like "Craftsman","Ted Williams" and "Gamefisher", these were smaller horsepowers manufactured by McCulloch, Force, Clinton, Tanaka and Eska.

   By 1987 most all brand names were discountinued in favor of Gamefisher brand and these were all made by Force from 1987 through 1996. It was at this time that Sears stopped selling outboard motors

   There were outboards marked "Sears" of Canada from 1975 through 1979. These outboards were manufactured by and carried an Eska model number.

   Through the years Sears only sold their brand names. The three most common were Motorgo, Waterwitch and Elgin. There was one exception to this Sears policy. In the 1925 Sears catalog, they listed the Johnson model "A" and "C" outboards for sale. This was the only year they were listed.

   With the following model year guides, we are attempting to provide a cross reference list of Sears outboard motor models to the outboard manufacturers model numbers. We will continue to update as more research is completed.

   Hard core parts for these outboards are getting more difficult to find as time goes on. Many older outboards used common Ignition and Carburetor venders for that period. Discount Marine Parts has Ignition and Carburetor repair kits for most all of these older outboards. If we don't have what your looking for, we have many sources to locate your part. Obviously some parts are just not available. We can sometimes find it used and often we have the part made if there is enough demand. Discount Marine Parts has a large inventory of parts for most brands of American made Outboards, Inboards and Sterndrives. We also have most parts and service manuals available.

             Thank you for stopping by and please come back!

Identify Outboard Manufacturer by Sears Model Number Prefix

(First Three Numbers followed by a period Identify Manufacturer)

Sold Under The Following "Sears" Brands

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Last Modified: 1/22/05