Handheld engine starters? Making mine from a briggs electric start.

[mhornfeck72205]

Hey all. Just a few questions on engine starters.

Did you buy yours or make it yourself? If you bought it, are there any sites to get some ideas from?

I'm going to try to assemble my own, on the cheap, to start my engines instead of using a pull start. I have a briggs starter motor with a bare shaft and a 12v 7ah battery. If 7ah isnt high enough, I also have a 17ah to use. I'm going mount it all to a base plate and put handles on it with a switch to turn it on and off.

I'm planning on welding a 3/8" socket extender onto the shaft to be able to use sockets on the end of it. Just gotta make sure that it is centered. I may also try to shave the shaft down to 1/4" square and put a 1/4" to 3/8" size-up adapter on it and then weld that in place.

:hack::grind::hack::wink:

 

[Oldsalt]

Will a Briggs starter, without the big ring gear attached to the flywheel, have enough torque to turn over the motor? How about putting a small pulley on the starter and a larger pulley on the crankshaft and use a belt between the two?

 

[Jay Wrix]

On 4cycle.com there was someone that made a beautiful hand held starter out of an old Subaru starter ( for a car, im assuming a small motor) but It lasted forever, looked great and cost sixty dollars, best of all he had a step by step on how to doit,

Ill try to find it later1

 

[metal man]

im thinking that a standard briggs started wont have the power to turn a motor over like that .you would need some kind of gear reduction . if you built it off a car starter it would have the power to do it with out gears. what kind of ratchet or over run clutch are you going to use ? you would need some kind of clutch so when the motor starts it wont break your arm by flipping the starter out of your hand.

 

[mhornfeck72205]

I have a hunch that the briggs will be torque-y enough. I'm just going to build it and see if it works or not. If it doesnt, I always have my cordless drill which works just fine now. Just looking to make something that lasts a bit longer than the drill.

When the engine kicks in, it should just spin the briggs shaft faster.. I dont think it would really rip it out of my hand. The starter shaft isnt attached to anything directly linked to the rest of the starter. It spins freely.

 

[DreyeIce]

any briggs or tech i have had starts is 2 light pulls, max, whats the problem with pulling the cord?

 

[mhornfeck72205]

its for my honda clone which I've added a ton of mods to. It has the compression release removed on it too.

 

[Oldsalt]

The raw Briggs starter motor will not have enough torque, without the huge reduction supplied by the stock ring gear normally mounted on the flywheel, to turn over the motor. If a car starter, which often have internal reduction gearing, is used there is going to be a problem holding on to the starter. The torque is instantly applied when the switch is closed. The starter will hit top RPM and torque almost instantly. A gorrilla couldn't be counted on to hold on to it useing both hands when the engine hit it's first compression sroke. Install long handles? Reduce the voltage to weaken the car starter's output? Then there is the problem of a "bendix" or some other form of over-running clutch.

A belt drive, with a small pulley on the Briggs starter [hand held] and a larger pulley on the flywheel side of the crankshaft, would have a good chance of eliminating of minimizing the above noted problems......IMHO. The starter motor could be enerigized before it's pulled up tightly against the "V" belt. That would allow the torque to be "clutched" in rather than being suddenly engaged and wrapping the cables around your arms. The small and large pulleys would supply a reduction that would, hopefully, allow the little starter to work. The engine when it starts would not be hard coupled to the starter so an over-run clutch would not be required. The loose belt would simply fall off on the ground when the starter allowed the belt to be free.

That would be my direction if the aim was to have a starter that was safe and low buck.

 

[mhornfeck72205]

A cordless drill has a reduction built in. Why do I not have such a hard time turning the engine over with the drill?

 

[Oldsalt]

Try the Briggs starter without reduction and let us know if it turns over the engine adaquately. If I'm dead wrong on that matter, you got it done! Well, it might still be necessary to have some form of over-running clutch.

If, on the other hand, the Briggs starter will not turn over the engine adaquately get yourself a car starter and plug that onto the end of the crankshaft and see if it can be held onto. I, for one, would like for you to have a friend there to turn on the switch and take a picture at exactly the same instant. Then post the picture when you are again able to operate a keyboard.

 

[metal man]

A cordless drill has a reduction built in. Why do I not have such a hard time turning the engine over with the drill?

yes it does have a reduction but it is very small motor that runs a drill . you just dont have the torque to do that .it like this you can move a fully loaded train with a weed wacker motor but BUT you would have to put a gear reduction of like 20000 to 1 the train may move 100 feet in a week but it will move it . you would have to give up speed for torque . now if you use a bigger motor you dont need as much gear reduction to do the same amount of work . what you need to do is set up a gear reduction like it is on a motor with a ring gear and some kind of over run clutch. i used to start a engine with a drill till it got away from me and dam near took my head off .the only way to get away from a gear/ belt set up is a much much bigger starter .like the one in my 78 buick you could drive your little engine easy as pie, lots of torque and speed but good luck holding on to that one when if fires .

 

[metal man]

Try the Briggs starter without reduction and let us know if it turns over the engine adaquately. If I'm dead wrong on that matter, you got it done! Well, it might still be necessary to have some form of over-running clutch.

If, on the other hand, the Briggs starter will not turn over the engine adaquately get yourself a car starter and plug that onto the end of the crankshaft and see if it can be held onto. I, for one, would like for you to have a friend there to turn on the switch and take a picture at exactly the same instant. Then post the picture when you are again able to operate a keyboard.

oldsalt no no not a pic a movie much better then you can see and hear the scream as things go wrong .

 

[mhornfeck72205]

I just want enough torque to turn the engine to start it. Not trying to turn over a normal car engine. The drill in high speed mode provides probably less torque than I can feel coming from the briggs motor. I'm just going to build it and see if it works. If it works, awesome, if not, oh well. lol..

 

[badtec]

I started my drag bike (14.2-1 compression) with a big Chrysler 440 starter. No clutch. The motor has 290lbs in each hole. The aftermarket drag bike starters are gear reduced, but they have no clutch, either. No probs, ever. Scott.

 

[Oldsalt]

I started my drag bike (14.2-1 compression) with a big Chrysler 440 starter. No clutch. The motor has 290lbs in each hole. The aftermarket drag bike starters are gear reduced, but they have no clutch, either. No probs, ever. Scott.

You wrapped your hands around a 12 volt starter and stuck it solidly on the end of the crankshaft of a 14 to 1 motor and hit the switch? You're a lot stronger than me!

 

[apekd]

My ex's dad had a 350 starter that he made a mount for. set it on the ground and stand on it, started up a mini bike in less than 10 seconds.

 

[badtec]

You wrapped your hands around a 12 volt starter and stuck it solidly on the end of the crankshaft of a 14 to 1 motor and hit the switch? You're a lot stronger than me!

My wife does it. She's 5'3" 145. It's easier than you think. It's how they start the pro stock bikes on NHRA. Scott.

 

[Oldsalt]

My wife does it. She's 5'3" 145. It's easier than you think. It's how they start the pro stock bikes on NHRA. Scott.

I know it's inmaterial, but I still don't believe it. The problem is that some one might really try to hold a starter [one haveing no long handles or otherwise mounted] in their hands, locked onto a high compression engine, and will end up with battery cables wound up on their arms.

 

[badtec]

Well it is mounted on an assembly with handles, but I would have thought that you would have known that. Oh well, I was wrong one other time. LOL. It would be crazy to try and just hold on to a starter. Go to pingelonline.com and check out their remote starters. I recently aquired the HTS1R. I'll try and find a pic of the home made one with the Chrysler starter. Scott.

 

[Oldsalt]

Well it is mounted on an assembly with handles, but I would have thought that you would have known that. Oh well, I was wrong one other time. LOL. It would be crazy to try and just hold on to a starter. Go to pingelonline.com and check out their remote starters. I recently aquired the HTS1R. I'll try and find a pic of the home made one with the Chrysler starter. Scott.

Good news. You weren't wrong. When I was still in grammer school I would watch Fred DeOrian, and another Indy mechanic, insert a really big starter, sporting very long handles, into the nose of Offy powered champ cars such as the American Van Lines Special and Billy's Fuel Injection Special. That was in the eary 50s at Butler and Hazelwood Avenues in Fresno.