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Bizzare or what?

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wayne

02-10-2002 07:13:07




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I was recently at a tractor museum in Bristol England and they had a diesel tractor there that started by inserting a shotgun shell in a slot and hitting it with a hammer.This is what the tour guide told me.Anyone else ever heard of this? Wayne




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Scooby

02-10-2002 14:24:08




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 Re: bizzare or what? in reply to wayne, 02-10-2002 07:13:07  
Wayne, How glad I am to hear that you also seen this tractor...NOBODY EVER BELIEVED ME THAT THERE WAS SUCH A TRACTOR. I saw it at Wauseon Ohio, at the threashers convention along time ago, when I was just a pup, and was begining to think this was something that I saw in my dreams, since no one else believed me. THANK YOU FOR PROVING MY SANITY,(at least on this case) -Scoob



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George Willer

02-10-2002 16:56:40




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 Re: Re: bizzare or what? in reply to Scooby, 02-10-2002 14:24:08  
Your sanity is OK for now, Scoob. I'm checking mine now, since I can't remember the owner's name. Bodine, I think, but I can't be sure. He also brought a model traction engine and an International wooden wheel single cylinder car.

In later years, the Field Marshall was operated by Laraine Bell, from Ft Wayne, IN.

The Field Marshall could be started by other methods too. Special treated paper that would smolder could be inserted in a holder for a glow plug, and the flywheel pulled over. There was another method where two people could crank it fast enough for it to start, but I never saw it done.

George Willer

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Ralph

02-10-2002 12:57:01




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 Re: bizzare or what? in reply to wayne, 02-10-2002 07:13:07  
And I also understood that they had a hyd. cylinder under the axle that would lift one wheel of the ground at will; that was live power take off.



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Glenn(WV)

02-10-2002 11:28:27




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 Re: bizzare or what? in reply to wayne, 02-10-2002 07:13:07  
I've heard of that kind of thing. I went to a show last summer where someone brought in a HUGE stationary engine on a semi-mounted skid. The engine came out of an old oilfield. They used compressed air to get the rotating assembly going; they then put propane to it to run it. When it backfired, it sounded like a bomb went off.



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Hugh MacKay

02-10-2002 17:39:20




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 Re: Re: bizzare or what? in reply to Glenn(WV), 02-10-2002 11:28:27  
Air starters are very common in northern Canada and Alaska. Most of the large trucks you see on the road everyday can be equiped with an air starter. Mining companies are big on this in north country. It will perform like a pup start in cold weather. No problems over heating starter.



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Bob Kerr

02-10-2002 10:45:05




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 Re: bizzare or what? in reply to wayne, 02-10-2002 07:13:07  
There were a few large stationary engines that started that way. Of course the shell has no pellets, just a powder charge that gets it to turn over. the one I saw start one time didn't turn over real fast but it did start! I think there was an auto accessory back in the early 1900s that you screwed an adapter into a spark plug hole and you could use a shell to crank the engine, I have never seen one , but I have seen an ad for one. Some Old cars like an 1913 Oldsmobile Limited had a 707 cid engine (only made 60 hp)Winton and Locomobile also had big ones,and they could be a tough one to crank on a cold day. Some of those big beasts also had air starters that used compressed air from a tank to roll them over.If the tank was empty , you had to get out the tire pump and fill the tank and try it again. After it started there was a compressor that ran off the belt or gear drive off the engine that would fill the tank for the next start.

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Bob Kerr

02-10-2002 10:44:35




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 Re: bizzare or what? in reply to wayne, 02-10-2002 07:13:07  
There were a few large stationary engines that started that way. Of course the shell has no pellets, just a powder charge that gets it to turn over. the one I saw start one time didn't turn over real fast but it did start! I think there was an auto accessory back in the early 1900s that you screwed an adapter into a spark plug hole and you could use a shell to crank the engine, I have never seen one , but I have seen an ad for one. Some Old cars like an 1913 Oldsmobile Limited had a 707 cid engine (only made 60 hp)Winton and Locomobile also had big ones,and they could be a tough one to crank on a cold day. Some of those big beasts also had air starters that used compressed air from a tank to roll them over.If the tank was empty , you had to get out the tire pump and fill the tank and try it again. After it started there was a compressor that ran off the belt or gear drive off the engine that would fill the tank for the next start.

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SAm in NS

02-10-2002 09:36:32




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 Re: bizzare or what? in reply to wayne, 02-10-2002 07:13:07  
I've heard of it before. It's a Field Marshall. It has a single cylinder with about an 11" bore. It puts out about 45bhp. Only some were started with the shotgun shell, that was the powerstarting option. What is really impressive is watching one being hand cranked. It takes two people with a massive starting handle, a very impressive performance. It can have some alarming results though, because it's a two stroke it can start backwards or just rock back and forth. Makes a really distinctive sound. Runs so slowly you can just about count each time it fires.

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Zonie

02-10-2002 07:33:49




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 Re: bizzare or what? in reply to wayne, 02-10-2002 07:13:07  
I remember seeing a tractor like that as a kid. I have no idea what it was. The only thing that stuck with me was the fact it started with a shotgun shell, and no it wasn't in England.



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Dave_Id

02-10-2002 07:26:47




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 Re: bizzare or what? in reply to wayne, 02-10-2002 07:13:07  
I read about one model in Antique Power. Wasn't it the Field Marshall?



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The Red

02-10-2002 07:19:26




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 Re: bizzare or what? in reply to wayne, 02-10-2002 07:13:07  
That would not at all surprise me. Several WWII aircraft models used shotgun shells to start their radial engines.



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JimB

02-10-2002 10:33:11




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 Re: Re: bizzare or what? in reply to The Red, 02-10-2002 07:19:26  
Aircraft used a shotgun shell starter that was called a Coffman Starter. It was used to start some large radials and the 24 cylinder Napier Sabre Engine. It was used before there was electric starters big enoough to throw over 2400+ cubic in. engines.



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Bleedinred

02-10-2002 14:21:29




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 Re: Re: Re: bizzare or what? in reply to JimB, 02-10-2002 10:33:11  
Thanks Jim, I could remember the starter but not the name! I feel better already.



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Bleedinred

02-10-2002 14:21:08




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 Re: Re: Re: bizzare or what? in reply to JimB, 02-10-2002 10:33:11  
Thanks Jim, I could remember the starter but not the name! I feel better already.



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Jim F

02-10-2002 11:12:53




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 Re: Re: Re: bizzare or what? in reply to JimB, 02-10-2002 10:33:11  
Bob was correct it was a Feild Marshall that started with a blank shell, 12 gauge i think. The sales people also claimed the engine would run on butter milk or used oil but never saw that.they would run either direction and the newer ones had a red light to tell you if it was running backwards



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walt f

02-10-2002 11:55:09




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: bizzare or what? in reply to Jim F , 02-10-2002 11:12:53  
remember the movie "the flight of the pheonix" when they had built an airplane from the wreckage of the plane they had crash landed in the desert?



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