CORDLESS DRILL POWER

[CKain(MI)]

I have a generator, for back power. It's a rope start and at 80 with a back injury, I can barely pull it over. I was wonder about adapting a hand drill or impact wrench to turn it over. Would those tools have enough torque ?

 

[504]

The first thing to check is,does your engine flywheel have a ring gear on it? I traded for an engine driven welder/generator. I pulled the cover off of the engine and it had a ring gear. A $5.00 used starter and now,no more rope start.

 

[Gene Davis (Ga)]

I tried that once with a weed eater and when it fired up, it stripped the gears in the drill transmission before I could pull it off the flywheel nut. Expensive experiment for me that day!

 

[Janicholson]

An impact wrench will not spin the engine it will tighten the nut till it strips or twists off. A drill will do it, but you need to have a drive that allows the engine to turn faster than the drill, like a standard crank starter drive at the crankshaft. Jim

 

[Russ from MN]

If you need the backup generator very often you should probably just look at new ones with electric starters on them, unless yours has a ring gear and the starter mount it's not very feasible. You can sell your old one to some young guy.

 

[DelMN]

I use a gokart starter for my generator and gas powered air compressor.

 

[Butch(OH)]

If the engine is a Honda or clone like most of them complete electric start kits are on ebay for very little money

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I added a flywheel, starter and charging coils to my 10 hp honda. Took me 3 days to install it.

I have 2 3500w RV champion generators.
My second one I bought with a battery and starter.

If you are 80, you may want to think about selling your old generator and buying one with a starter.

I wouldn't want to add a starter to another 10 hp honda.
It was a witch to get the flywheel off, the flywheel nut used thread locker.

Just remember the colder it gets, the harder it is to start.

I leave the cover off my air filters and give them a shot of starting fluid. They fire right off. Keep a fire extinguisher close by, just in case.

 

[DelMN]

On a lower post I sent a picture of a gokart starter. More info on that: Pros: 1)Can be used for multiple engines. 2)Starts from the flywheel nut which you can put a socket on the end depending on the size of nut. 3) will start high compression engines. 4)One battery to maintain and can be used for at least 50 starts. 5) It has 2 side handles to hold device so the torque turn will not snap at your wrist as a power driver will.

I've used mine on 9HP engines with no problem. I used to be a starter at a go kart club track and probably started 75 engines on a given race day. These engines were highly modified with very high compression!

Con: They are about $250 new. They can be found on ebay used for about 150. If you were close to me, I would let you try one of mine out. I have 2 of them and use them both.

 

[UncleTom]

I would get and electric start geny. At 80 and in a no power situation it has to be absolutely right.

 

[Dober_paw]

my rope start has me pulling up and at a angle - very awkward. Fortunately when it is needed for house power it runs outside under the deck (open on 3 sides, plenty of ventilation!) - I set a pulley block in the beam above it and extended the start rope through the pulley - so now I am pulling straight down using my own weight, very much easier. But an electric start inverter genny is on my wish list.

 

[CKain(MI)]

UTom, Thank you, I knew the bottom line is, get an electric start one.

 

[Steve@Advance]

It's not real practical or easy to start a larger engine with a drill. An impact will twist off the end of the crank!

It would be much better to add a starter if possible. On a generator, you don't need a charging system. If you keep the battery on a maintainer, the maintainer can get power from the generator while it is running.

 

[Butch(OH)]

George I guess that just shows that different people have different skills and tools. I intstalled an electric start kit on a 13HP GX 390 in just over an hour last month and have done several GX160s in same time frame.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Butch
The hole where the starter bolted into was too small.
That took a good part of the day enlarging the hole with a file and a hole saw.
I had problems with the flywheel nut, it was glued on.
I had to make a flywheel puller and tap the holes.
I never want to do the job without the right parts.
I had all the tools.
Mine was a 13 hp honda too.
No thanks, never again.

 

[Texasmark]

I have used a drill years ago on starting small engines that have been stored for many years. Clumsy but works...if you have a stiff enough trill (torque/hp)

 

[Ozlander]

(quoted from post at 20:26:05 02/27/23) I have a generator, for back power. It's a rope start and at 80 with a back injury, I can barely pull it over. I was wonder about adapting a hand drill or impact wrench to turn it over. Would those tools have enough torque ?

A hand drill might start it. BUT, if you need the generator, how do you power the drill????

 

[Texasmark]

Good point about where's the power source. My experience was with lawn mowers.

 

[Dusty MI]

I had an early bale thrower that had a single cylinder air cooled engine, it was recoil/rope start. It did not start easy, so I took the recoil off and made an attachment for my 120 volt drill motor, to crank the engine, which worked rather well.
I would park it near the barn, where there was 120 volt power, and start it with the drill motor, and not shut it off until the end of the day.
That was maybe 20 years ago, before battery powered drills.

 

[Mule Meat]

Good luck using a drill to start a generator engine.
Hope you are able to remove the drill and whatever you use to turn the flywheel fast enough once the engine fires. If not, good chance the drill will go into orbit or your wrist gets broken.

If you do wish to try a drill. You will need a one way bearing between the drill chuck and whatever you use to turn the flywheel to allow the engine to spin freely once it starts. We are no longer living the the Briggs and Stratton days of one way bearing starting systems that used two small ball bearings that allowed the engine to free spin. Those could easily be started with a drill and 12 point socket.