I’VE SAID IT several times before,
but nobody seems to take any notice, so I’ll say it again: It’s high time all inboard engines for
pleasure boats were fitted with starters that don’t rely on electricity. There
are other ways. There are hydraulic starters, compressed-air starters, and even
a wind-up spring starter — but have you ever seen one fitted in a yacht?
It’s quite wrong that we’re so
dependent on electrical batteries for starting our motors. I guess it’s a hang-over
from the automobile industry, where there is usually no safety concern if a
battery goes flat.
But things are different on the
water. A fully discharged battery can be a much more serious matter,
particularly on a single-engined boat. A flat battery can involve discomfort,
embarrassment, expense, and even danger.
Hydraulic starters are used on some
commercial craft. Hand-pumping an accumulator tank for five to ten minutes will
spin a big diesel for two minutes or so. Some fishing boats used similar compressed-air
starters. There used to be a British
company that made a spring starter, maybe still does. It fit on your engine
like a regular starter, only it had a crank like a winch handle sticking out.
Twelve turns of the handle would give you enough spring power to start a
six-cylinder diesel.
Haven’t there been times when you’d
have given a back tooth for a system like that?
I once owned a single-lung, 12 h.p.
BMW diesel which had a valve lifter that automatically snapped shut after you
had spun the engine with a crank handle about four times. Without compression
it was quite easy, using both hands, to crank the engine up to a fair speed in
four revolutions. It is a great emergency back-up system for engines up to
about 15 horsepower. Won’t someone please whisper this fact in the shell-like
ear of a marine engine manufacturer?
Today’s
Thought
You
shall have joy, or you shall have power, said God: you shall not have both.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Power,” The Conduct of Life
Tailpiece
The
maitre d’ of a New York hotel watched in amazement as an Ohio tourist carefully
washed his dessert spoon in the finger bowl.
He
rushed up apologetically, saying: “There’s no need to do that sir.”
“Oh
no?” said the tourist. “This is a new suit, buster. You think I want ice-cream
all over my pocket?”
(Drop by every Monday, Wednesday, Friday for a new
Mainly about Boats column.)
2 comments:
What a great idea. Such a device has never crossed my conciousness - if I could buy one I most certainly would - I have been caught out a couple of times with flat batteries.
Had a crank on an old Volvo, my first diesel, was scared to death it would start with my hand still cranking. Never had to use it though. I agree with you, has be a better way.
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