Crank Handles yea or nay!!!

After reading the post earlier about someone wanting a crankhandle, I thought I would bring it up. I picked up a little 1 horse Mogul the other day and it came with a crank handle and not really thinking much about the situation I tried to start the engine on the tailgate of the truck and it spit back and threw the crank handle inches from my friends head who was helping me. Well you might have guessed it the (widow maker) will not be used by me anymore on this engine. But I see quite a few folks using them at shows as opposed to pulling flywheels. By the way the crank and the shaft are both in good shape on the Mogul. How do you guys and gals stand on the issue??

Hello : The way I look at it a crank handle is only good for a paper weight or a sinker . About 3 years ago I split my upper lip in two and let me tell you what it hurt like heck , so no more cranks for me . ( This was not the first time I have used a crank either ) . Just my 2 cent worth .

Here's how I use a crank and I have never had a problem. I hold the intake valve in with my left hand while cranking the engine up to speed with my right. Release the intake valve and remove the crank and hope it starts. With this method I am never cranking against compression and the engine can't fire and kick back. It's been working for me for 25 years.

Mike

I do'nt like to use a crank on a smaller engine, you might lose some teeth! But I am a little guy, that is the only way I can start my 6 hp. IH M. Those cranks came with the engines for a reason, just be careful! D. Smith

yea

I posted here a while ago on this subject: They make GREAT wall ornaments and that's where they belong----SECURED to a wall where no one can use them!!!!

¿Well you might have guessed it the
widow maker) will not be used by
:me anymore on this engine.

It's a tool just like a gun, a knife, or a floor jack. Pay attention and you'll be ok. Ignore safe practices, and you can get hurt.

I have engines with ignitors and and low tension mags that are not going to start by spinning the flywheels by hand! Making sure your engine is timed properly will save alot of grief!! Ladders are on safe too! BobRR

A few years ago I was starting a Stover CT-2 In a cement mixer. It wasn't easy to start it by pulling over the flywheels as they were inside of the hood so I used the crank. I started it many times that way untill one morning when it balked and threw the crank into my forehead opening a gash over my eye. I learned an important lesson that day.

I do have some engines that are difficult to start without a crank but I always hold the intake valve open with my left hand untill I get the engine turning as fast as I can. I then remove the crank handle then release the valve. I still use extreme caution during this process Dick

Some 7 or 8 years ago, a local "townie" gave me a call to plead for help. He had inherited a small Stover engine that his grandfather had bought new in about 1913. It had been sitting on the dirt floor of a shed for many years, and it had sunk into the dirt several inches. Some of the cast parts had gotten extremely soft from the moisure in the ground. You could practically peel the metal off with your fingernail. Anyway, I made some parts for his engine and helped him to do some mechanical work on it. While he was at my place one day, he noticed a wall in my garage that has about 30 engine cranks nailed to it, and he asked if I had one that would fit his engine. I told him that I did, but I would NOT sell one to him because they are very dangerous to someone that doesn't know how to use one. I was afraid he would end up hurting himself or his engine. About a month went by and I hadn't heard from him because he was going to paint the engine before contacting me again about starting the engine up. I received a call from him that the engine was painted and ready for me to come over, make final adjustments, and teach him how to start it. I went to his place and got the engine going and let it run for quite a while to seat the rings and valves a bit. I then shut it down and showed him how to start it. I went through the procedure with him 5 or 6 times so that he could try to do it himself in the future. Two weeks later, he called me and said he tried to start it, but it wouldn't run. He wondered if I would come over and help, but I wasn't going to be able to go there for at least a week due to my busy schedule. He was bound and determined to have a crank even though I wouldn't sell him one, so he had a co-worker of his make one for him. A few days later, I got another phone call from him. He had tried to use the homemade crank. It slipped off of the crankshaft, hit him in the mouth (breaking two of his teeth) and then it flew back into the engine where it got caught between a flywheel spoke and the engine base. The flywheels had still been spinning when this happened. It ended up badly bending the crankshaft, breaking the cam gear, fouling up his fancy paint job, and hurting his pride (and his two broken teeth and a cut lip that required stitches). He said that he should have listened to me when I warned him about not using a crank if you were a "newbie" to these engines.

I do try to find original starting cranks for my engines, but I don't generally use a crank unless it is built into the flywheel of an engine. My feelings are that if you can't start the engine by pulling the flywheels over once or twice by hand, you had better do a little tweaking on the engine because something isn't quite right. If the engine is in good mechanical shape and adjusted correctly, you shouldn't need to use a crank on it.

I have to agree with Craig- the cranks belong decorating a wall in the garage.

[Paul Spence]

"NAY" . I have a couple of boxes full where I can't get to them . I don't even hang them on the wall. Nice to have with an engine if one came with it. If it won't start easily , fix it so it does . That's all I can say.. Paul , bitten once , not again.

Depends on the engine, some engines can't be started without a crank, so I don't see anything wrong with learning to use one safely. David.

Having the crank that came with the engine....to me is like having the orig oiler,pulley etc. .....NICE, but, I don't use them, Most of what I have can be rolled up onto compression from the flywheel with one hand....let a little pressure wean off, and pull it over.....one soft puff, then a louder one, then off and running............always makes me smile when they run like that. I just saw a couple engines at a show, the guy's where sweating cranking and cranking..............I just like it my way I guess!

Once upon a time I felt the same way. I've seen people get their teeth knocked out with a crank.

Now, to some extent I agree with Junkologist and BobRR, although I only use a crank when it is absolutely necessary for a particular engine.

The mag on my Mogul 1 h.p. has to be spinning fairly fast in order to make a spark at the ignitor. It is impossible to start by tugging on the flywheels. On the other hand, it's a very easy starter with a crank.

But the Mogul crank left me with a thick scar underneath my chin.

That incident taught me a lesson: Keep your face out of the plane of the crank's rotation. Now, I hold the crank at arm's length when when spinning it up.

Even if it's a bigger engine where one has to get in close and lean into it, if you back off at the same time you release the intake valve, the chances of wearing an implant in your face will be much reduced.

My 2¢

Orrin

NO WAY, NEVER AGAIN. I broke my nose when a crank handle flew off my Schramm while starting it. I pull the flywheels from now on!

There are many views on the subject, but don't forget there are plenty of big engines where spinning flywheels just isn't an option, not just petrol (gas) engines but diesels as well.

We have a biggish side-shaft Ruston & Hornsby diesel which has to be started with a 'lighter' in the cylinder and the handle. It has a half-compression cam to help, but there is no way these sort of engines could be spun by the flywheels.

I keep the crankshaft end and starting handle well oiled on the Ruston as it will stick on the end of the shaft and get well 'out of order' if not.

See also Rob Skinner's comments above.

Peter

My FMZ and Sattley both have handles as part as the flywheels so it won't fly off. But I am careful how I crank it - I spin it fast with the intake pushed in and let go of everything and let it spin to start.

However, that said, how came you folks with big engines don't consider pony engines? Perhaps kick starting a maytag and letting it start your engine would be the most safe way to go?

Never at a show. At home if you want to risk getting hurt. Learn to start the engine without one. Hang the crank on the wall!!

Some of my engines (Cushman Cubs) have hand starting cranks built into the flywheel, but I still try to start them by the flywheels. At least these handles can't go flying off! For the other Cushmans of mine that have a separate starting crank, I have one for every engine - but for SHOW purposes. It makes the engine more complete. Jim

I have a 4 HP Fairbanks-Morse type H with an ignitor and a Sumter rotary magneto that has to be spun fast to start. It is the only one I use a crank on. On engines that have a starting handle built into the flywheel, I remove them wherever possible. Al Wait