Manual crank crankshaft nuts

turbofiat124

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My 600cc Citroen 2CV can be started manually using the opposite end of the jack handle. I've done it and it's not that hard. Well on a cold engine anyway.

I noticed the end of the crankshaft on my 58 Ford 800 tractor and Model A cars are shaped the same way:

$_57.JPG


I do not have a manual crank for my tractor but on the Citroen, the end is a round cylinder with a roll pin driven through it.

Why are these shaped like this? Is this so if the engine kicks back it pushes the crank handle off the crankshaft nut? Or does it push it off when the engine starts spinning?

Reason I ask is I want to come up with some way to manually start my lawnmowers since they don't have recoil starters. I don't know why. I guess they think people are lazy these days.

For some reason I have to replace the battery on my Craftsman mower about every 2 years. Not just on lawnmowers but cars. I've got some batteries that have went long past their 2 year warranty knocking on 4 years and others that made it 6 months past their 2 year warranty. Maybe it's the constant bouncing about on my yard that damages the plates. Or they are just junk batteries.

About 10+ years ago I had a Snapper with a 14HP engine. I replaced the battery and next spring it was dead. Wouldn't even hold a charge. So I used the recoil starter for 10 years until I sold it.

I don't think I can convert my 21HP B&S over to a recoil starter. I don't think they make a recoil starter for an engine this size. Perhaps I can my 18.5 engine on my MTD mower.

Looks like the 2nd battery on my Craftsman's may not make it through the winter even with a trickle charger. It was dead this spring and seemed to hold a charge over the summer but because of the drought went dead from sitting for just 2 months. So I had to drag out a 100 foot extension cord to my yard barn and connect my battery charger to it for a couple of hours and piddle around in my garage waiting for it to recharge.

I've seen videos of people using a socket, carriage bolt and a nut connected to an electric drill to start push mowers but that sort of defeats the purpose. What if the cordless drill battery is dead? What if the drill does not have enough torque to spin the engine over?

I thought about cutting down a carriage bolt to replace the crankshaft bolt, a pulley from an old Snapper deck and three nuts (one against the crankshaft and two against the pulley). Then just use a rope and handle to start it. I may have to slot the pulley and bolt and use a key stock to keep it from spinning.

Providing the crankshaft bolt is not some funky hard to find size like the 7.0 X 1 mm bolts used all over my Citroen that nobody seems to carry.

I like this guy's idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPLmXghdmgk
 
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