Who can hand start their engine?

My mistake in the past has been squirting too much oil into the cylinder, crank like crazy flip the lever and it stops dead. I don't have a glow plug so in cold weather I have to use a "starting cigarette". I'm not sure the ancient dynastarter is charging the batteries so useful to be able to hand crank.
 
I practiced over time on a warm engine and now I am able to start my Bukh DV20 even when cold. At least with a 3rd hand to operate the decompression handle.

Came in handy just a few weeks ago. A fine day at sea was threatened by a dead battery, but the hand-crank on the Bukh (and my superb skills :) saved the day.
 
flobbergob said:
On one boat I owned, the Perkins 4108 derivative (a Westerbeke possibly) had a wind up clockwork spring type of starter instead of the normal 12 volt starter.

Cheers, Brian.
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Any big marinised engine such as Perkins;Mercedes;Ford etc can be fitted with a clockwork starter.
Primarily designed for plant operating in remote isolated parts of the world
All the British Steel Challenge Boats were also fitted with them.
You just wind up the spring clock style and pull the lever.
 
I have had two Sabb 8, 10 hp. They start so well on the handle so long as the exhaust mixer is not clogged and you can really get a steady wind on the handle and the nimble change with one hand to move the compressor lever.

Nowadyas I would think a blowtorch up the inlet would be useful in winter too instead of the starting cigarette?

Current Yanmar doesn't even have a handle, which I am not so keen on, Instead therefore ( sigh), spare starter motor and petrol generator, blow torch, solar panels and windgenerator etc and two battery banks..Failing that I'd have to bump start it with the clutch at 23 knots under sail( joke:))
 
if you got two seperate decompression levers - firing up on one only can make things easier. drop the second when things are up and running.

(does this work for three/four cylinder engine too?)
 
What's a decompression lever?!:rolleyes:

My 12hp Albin, petrol, two cylinders, a dynastarter and a handle.

It also had quite high compression but never quite succeeded in breaking my arm.

Eventually, the dogs wore off and made it impossible to engage with the crank.

In desperation, i wound a rope round the flywheel and hauled upwards from the cockpit. It started but what would have happened if the rope stayed wrapped I can't imagine.

Foolish days.
 
used to start my MD1 by hand no problem. Replaced it with a 1GM10 that could be started by hand but never had to bother.

On this boat I have a beta14 with no hand start option at all so I always carry one of those 'jump start' units they sell for cars. Again, never had to use it but feel happier in case No1 (the starter battery) ever gets flattened as well as the No 2 domestic battery. (Note to self remind SWMBO about No 1 and No 2 battery settings on big red switch..........)
 
Quite a few people seem to manage to start BUKHs (heavy flywheel??).

I did hand start my previous boat's BUKH DV20 twice without any problems. As I'm not very strong and the handle was quite small I had to resort to following.

1) Disconnect bar linking decompression levers for both cylinders
2) Tie one lever back with a slip knot and flip end into the cockpit
3) Tie other lever back with a slip knot and hold the end of the string in my mouth
4) Crank like mad without any compression
5) Jerk head back to release cyl. 1
6) Grab other piece of string an release cyl.2 when engine is running

Very easy second time I needed to hand start. Needless to say, I never had to repeat it once I knew how to manage it. The BUKH always fired up on electric start after that.

Others have mentioned heavy flywheels and firing on one cyl. so that seems to be the answer. I expect someone could come up with a better option than string but at least you can usually find some easily.
 
Due to poor electricks, I often started both my MD2 and MD11 by hand.
Now, my Beta has no provision to do it, so I had to update the battery system. But what if the starter motor goes on strike?
 
I used to start myMD1 by hand. This was made MUCH easier by using Mobil 1 oil with viscosity 0W40. The O means that the oil is as thin as water when cold and so it is much easier to turn over. I would recommend this approach if you need to hand start BUT lots of well informed folk on this forum will tell you that advanced synthetic oils are bad for old engines. I ran mine (1965 model engine) on this stuff for 15 years and did thousands of hours with no poblem at all
 
I've had a couple of half-hearted attempts with my 2GM20, but the structure of the companionway makes it hard to get a good swing on. I suspect I'd be doomed to failure anyway due to the lighter flywheel.

I think Bukh are the only manufacturer who still make any serious provision for hand-start. It's not just the heavy flywheel, they also take care to put the handle higher up which is more ergonomic and less likely to foul surrounding objects.

Pete
 
prv said:
I've had a couple of half-hearted attempts with my 2GM20, but the structure of the companionway makes it hard to get a good swing on. I suspect I'd be doomed to failure anyway due to the lighter flywheel.

I think Bukh are the only manufacturer who still make any serious provision for hand-start. It's not just the heavy flywheel, they also take care to put the handle higher up which is more ergonomic and less likely to foul surrounding objects.

Pete
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Large marine diesel engines have a compressed air start . On small ones I suppose not practical due to scale and as use would be infrequent but it would be handy if you could do it by attaching a small emergency cylinder
 
catmandoo said:
Large marine diesel engines have a compressed air start . On small ones I suppose not practical due to scale and as use would be infrequent but it would be handy if you could do it by attaching a small emergency cylinder
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I think a better solution for engines too big to hand-start is a spring starter. You wind it up with a crank and then pull a lever to rapidly unwind it, spinning the engine. It bolts in place much like an ordinary starter motor.

Hydraulic starters are another option, but probably don't make sense compared to springs unless you have engine-driven hydraulics already.

The emergency generator on Stavros I think has a spring start, and that's bigger than any yacht engine I've ever seen.

Pete
 
I thought this was a thread to try and recruit some more muscular crew! After a certain age, it wouldn't hurt to have someone on board that doesn't need a tea break after grinding in the headsail...

Rob.

P.S. Sole mini-14 - no provision to crank it.
 
Paulka said:
...... But what if the starter motor goes on strike?
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Plan B is the sails!

I used to own a car with a starting handle.
The trick to being able to hand start it was having the ignition timing precisely right.
Is it similar with yacht engines, they will hand start much easier if the injection is just right?
 
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