Starting an engine with a shotgun shell?

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Originally Posted By: tom slick
You guys need to watch more "Classic Tractor" on RFDTV.


Channel 231 in Dish TV
 
And, International Harvester had an engine that started as a gasoline engine and ran as a diesel engine. International Harvester developed a tractor in the 1930s that had a 7-liter 4-cylinder engine which started as a gasoline/petrol engine then ran on diesel after warming up. The cylinder head had valves which opened for a portion of the compression stroke to reduce the effective compression ratio, and a magneto produced the spark. An automatic ratchet system automatically disengaged the ignition system and closed the valves once the engine had run for 30 seconds. The operator then switched off the petrol fuel system and opened the throttle on the diesel injection system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine#Starting
 
Originally Posted By: edhackett
There's no way to use a standard shot shell. They appear to be based on a 4 gauge shell and had an electrically fired primer. They didn't fire directly into the cylinder, they turned a starter motor.



Slightly changing the subject, but.....have you ever seen a 4 gauge shotgun shell? The shell looks a little small to be 4 gauge, but I could be wrong.
4 gauge shotguns were used 100 years ago when all the ladies have to have feathers in their hats. The 4 gauge shotgun was firmly attached to a two-man row boat and the boat was camouflaged with reeds and trees. The boat was slowly rowed into an area that was crowded with waterfowl. The idea was to shoot as many birds as possible with one shot. The gun was so big that it needed to be attached to the boat as no single man could handle it. Of course, this practice of shooting birds by this method has been outlawed.
I've actually seen a 4 gauge shotgun in a gun museum in Reno, Nevada, 20+ years ago, but the name of the museum escapes me.
 
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Originally Posted By: Ken2
And, International Harvester had an engine that started as a gasoline engine and ran as a diesel engine. International Harvester developed a tractor in the 1930s that had a 7-liter 4-cylinder engine which started as a gasoline/petrol engine then ran on diesel after warming up. The cylinder head had valves which opened for a portion of the compression stroke to reduce the effective compression ratio, and a magneto produced the spark. An automatic ratchet system automatically disengaged the ignition system and closed the valves once the engine had run for 30 seconds. The operator then switched off the petrol fuel system and opened the throttle on the diesel injection system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine#Starting


Maybe some of them were automatic, but my neighbor had one of these tractors when I was growing up that was not automatic. You turned a knob or pushed a lever to initiate the engine to run on diesel. I remember it blew perfect smoke rings out the exhaust if you tried to switch it to diesel too soon. These tractors had a reputation for cracked heads.
 
You are right. A bit more research turned up that the Marshall tractor used a 12 bore starting cartridge(not a shotgun shell). It also made note of the carbon build up from the cartridges causing problems with the decompression valve. That, and the smoke in the video leads me to believe that it was most likely a black powder charge.

The Coffman cartridges were 4 gauge and used cordite as the propellant.

Ed
 
Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Ken2
And, International Harvester had an engine that started as a gasoline engine and ran as a diesel engine. International Harvester developed a tractor in the 1930s that had a 7-liter 4-cylinder engine which started as a gasoline/petrol engine then ran on diesel after warming up. The cylinder head had valves which opened for a portion of the compression stroke to reduce the effective compression ratio, and a magneto produced the spark. An automatic ratchet system automatically disengaged the ignition system and closed the valves once the engine had run for 30 seconds. The operator then switched off the petrol fuel system and opened the throttle on the diesel injection system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine#Starting


Maybe some of them were automatic, but my neighbor had one of these tractors when I was growing up that was not automatic. You turned a knob or pushed a lever to initiate the engine to run on diesel. I remember it blew perfect smoke rings out the exhaust if you tried to switch it to diesel too soon. These tractors had a reputation for cracked heads.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tdsl5vUGtE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=113_GCpybL8&feature=related
 
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