[SEL] From a newsgroup: Lookin For: Crank for 1.5hp Economy

[bill at antique-engines.com]

Gotta go with arnie here - I've been cranking tractors and engines since I
was a kid of how small. Been hit once in the leg (when I was a few years
younger) - I got "scared" and didn't handle it properly - getting scared
is what hurt me.
Some of the low tension or rotary mag engines can be a beast if you don't
use the crank.

Most like the Alamo/Rock Island, Chapman (battery ignition) and others
like them start with a couple flips of the flywheel.
It's a beast to try to get my IH M going that way.

I don't worry about it - I keep the shafts in good shape, the cranks in
good condition and use them properly.
I try to start those I can without a crank, but those that are difficult
get cranked.
 Will I get hurt? Maybe. But my son lost his eye (when he was 21) crossing
the street in front of his home one evening when a mugger slugged him
with a gun and crushed his face and eye.



> Hi Joe,
>
> Danger is what you make it.  If we were all so worried about potential
> danger, we'd be in a different hobby.  I won't bore everyone with all of
> the possible ways that our beloved old iron can hurt us.  I think we know,
> although we probably don't dwell on it.
>
> I think that any of us who have been in the hobby over five years can cite
> examples of someone who has been hurt by every one of those "potential
> dangers."  And we can all cite wonderful gory details.
>
> The simple fact is that we get hurt when we get careless.
>
> It's not the evil hand crank, or the heavy ackward engine, or the spinning
> flywheels, or the moving crankshaft, or the ungarded gears.  It's a person
> who got careless.
>
> I routinely use a hand crank on roughly half of my engines.  It's the
> easiest way to start those engines; and on four of 'em, its the ONLY
> way.  In ten years I've gotten whacked by a crank exactly once.  And guess
> what?  I got careless.
>
> We routinely make observations of US and English engine shows without
> fences (compared to the Aussie shows with fences) and show no
> wild increase in spectator injuries.
>
> So it is with hand cranks.  When you walk around an English engine show
> it's really rare to see a guy pulling flywheels.  They use hand cranks.
> I've never seen anyone get whacked or seen folks with grevious hand crank
> induced injuries.
>
> A hand crank isn't some mysterious instrument of the devil.  It's a tool.
> Just like a power drill or circular saw.  If you're not careful, it can
> hurt you.  If you are careful, it won't.
>
> Now, go be a man and go grab your crank!!  8-))
>
> See ya,  Arnie
>
> Arnie Fero
> Pittsburgh, PA
> fero_ah at city-net.com
>