Starting a small diesel, manually...just how hard can it be?

Think you will find he gets it on a compression stroke then fires up the magneto which ignites a cylinder full of fuel and away it goes!
 
Sorry to resurrect this but I think that the problems with The Beast were not with the engine but the gearbox. The gear change was by means of two ropes (dont know where the proper stuff went) which probably caused the drive to be not positively selected and jammed in one position. This was cured by the application of force by a lever (piece of 4x2). I've been reviewing the footage of The Slug on YouTube recently, KTL is a wonderful resource for my boat - thank you Dylan.
AngusMcDoon said:
I believe so too, but Dyl did have a few problems.
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I think hand starting a marine diesel is more about technique than anything else, I started my Yam 2GM 3 or 4 times on the handle this weekend while I was servicing it. I hand started it primarily because I was already kneeling in front of the engine and I could not be arsed to get up and go the starter panel. I find it easy when the engine is warm but can take a few goes when cold.

I'm not gorilla, 75kg and slim.
 
pvb said:
In days gone by, when small Volvo Penta engines used to be supplied with starting handles, I tried to start mine by hand. Total fail - even using the decompression levers!
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I had a starting handle for my Volvo 2002 but there is no where to engage it. I asked a Volvo mechanic about it and he said that it was no longer possible to hand start them.
 
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