Inertia Starter

[BearCreek Majors]

Just curious if anyone has ever played with one of these? Does it have a big heavy spring in it to wind up….maybe you get a chunk of metal spinning inside by hand and then trip the lever?

Pat

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fordson-Major-tract ... 3a62b9d845

[Kiwi Kev]

Pat
I've only ever seen one in an online sale, just like you have here.
From what I can gather, you have a handle which you use to wind up presumerably a BIG spring, and as you say, you trip the lever to engage the starter.
Not sure if it was an option or not. Maybe a cost saving option, or for flammable locations.
Will be interesting to see if anybody else has any other ideas.
Not cheap though is it?
I think the one I saw was on a Fordson Major that the German Army was selling off. Tractor was all painted army green.
Kiwi Kev

[BearCreek Majors]

I do believe you could order a major deleted of all the electrical system. Probably an economical choice for someone living in remote areas where electricity was not available, and I would believe these units came with this starter. This would also make sense with the German Military unit as there is no guarantee of finding a way to charge or even jump a dead battery during war time or not. The Germans were no fools, even they knew that English Fordson would always start!

Pat

[cwayne]

I found a picture of the Inertia starter in The New Super Major Operators' Handbook. It is in the options and accessories section. It does not look anything like the one on e bay. Other than not displaying any hose connections the e-bey starter appears very similar to a hydraulic starter . The hyd. starters were used on diesel engines intended for extreme cold climates . When I was in the military (diesel mechanic) I saw several on the Detroit Diesel engines. I do not know if Fordson used such . Maybe Brian can help.
Trying it attach a picture from the handbook.

[super6954]

Hi Guys.
Those starters are great if they work. I remember my mums cousins husband `uncle Peter` worked for lucas and he told me the official Lucas workshop advice for a person dealing with faulty units was-
Take an empty 40 gallon oil barrel, cut the top out, half fill it with concrete, insert starter unit , fill remainder of barrel with concrete, let it set, then head for the nearest cliff or very deep hole and let her go . from what he said the spring inside is so big and powerfull it will kill you if you get it wrong taking it apart . I remembered this story from 20 odd years ago and asked him again about it when they visited us in Canada last year and he told it again word for word.
Regards Robert

[Jerry Coles]

I think with this model looking at the trip lever and winding stud, you wound up the big spring inside until it would go no further and then when required you released the shaft which spun, threw the bendix into the flywhheel ring and spun the engine. Saw one demonstrated at the Fordson 500 show in Newark in the 90's.
Fond (NOT) meories of pumping up hydraulic straters on Lucas 24KVA generators in the British Army in the 80's in Germany in -10deg C and 1 foot of snow. You ended up stripped to the waist doing pull ups to haul down the pump lever and all for 11/2 revs of a freezing engine.
Regards
Jerry Bath
UK

[Tubal Cain]

Some of the oil tankers on which I have sailed had air salvage compressors driven by Ford industrial engines, which were fitted with inertia starters (I think that they were made by Simms). The compressores were located up in the foscle head which was regarded as a hazardous area.

Also some of the Petters lifeboat engines were fitted with Bryce Berger hydraulic starters, which I seem to recall were a pain. Fortunately we did not experience any real life abandon ship emergencies, although we also carried oars just in case.

Gerald

[Kiwi Kev]

I think the one I saw was on a Fordson Major that the German Army was selling off. Tractor was all painted army green.

After reading Jerry Coles post, maybe it was a British Army Fordson in Germany, which would make a whole lot more sense would'nt it
Kiwi Kev

[Supermanuel]

If there was a spring in the starter, it has not been an inertia starter. The only one I know was used to start the Daimler Benz engine in Messerschmitt Bf 109. There was a flywheel which was cranked to very high rpm and then with command "Kontakt" the clutch was engaged to turn the propeller hub. It was a totally external unit to start the engine.