Posted by David N. Lundstrom on Wednesday, November 28, 2001 at 9:50AM :
In Reply to: Crankin' posted by Russ on Wednesday, November 28, 2001 at 8:38AM :
This stepped jaw is fine if the engine turns the way it is supposed to. It is stepped so the crank doesn't keep spinning once the engine starts. If the engine backfires, ie. turns backwards, the crank locks into the square shoulder of the jaw and can sprain and break anything that is in it's way.
The way to avoid this is to always pull up on the crank, keeping your hands above or in front of the crank. That way if it backfires, it will just tear the crank out of your hands, instead of shattering your wrist bones.
Russ, are you sure it wasn't a W-9? I have a Massey Harris 44 with a Perkins diesel, and even though it has a crank lug, the diesel compression ratio makes it impossible to crank by hand.
Dave
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