I made the baseball bat analogy earlier - maybe a sledge hammer is a better way to describe it.
Picture somebody hitting the crank with an all out swing of a 16 pound sledge hammer, in the opposite direction of your cranking.
Think about where you want your hand on the crank when that hammer hits.
It's really that forceful and instantaneous.
Best possible position is crank in short pulls from about the 7:00 to 10:00 positions.
I'd say the thumb position is LESS important if you're doing it that way (which IS the right way).
I think the thumb rule is more for those who insist on cranking further. if you go past 11:00 - the degree to which your thumb is going to be forced backwards into your hand depends on just how far past you go.
Once you come around to 3:00 or so - you're taking the full brunt of the hit into your extended arm and possibly body. that's where bones really start breaking.
Even if your lucky enough to have your hand come off without a hit - the crank can still be launched in the very wrong direction at that point. MUCH better to have it thrown down and away from you - which again - means 7:00 to 10:00 position.
This assumes you're standing forward and a little left of the crank (left, looking at the tractor), cranking with your right hand.
Don't mean to drone on about this topic - but it's so important to anybody who hasn't done it before. You don't have to fear it - but you do have to respect it.
Time the engine to fire slightly AFTER tdc (the click of the magneto - not running). There's absolutely no benefit to trying to hit tdc EXACTLY.
If you ever expect to hand crank even once - always err on the side of AFTER. you should have absolutely no doubt about it. If you're within 5 degrees after, it'll still start easily if everything else is tuned properly, so you've got a fair amount of wiggle room.
I know I'm preaching to the choir for the most part here. But I know when I first started looking for this info myself - I got a LOT of conflicting opinions. After a few kickbacks, I quickly weeded through which opinions were the best.
This post was edited by JRSutton at 11:53:46 03/19/13.
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