Convert a small engine to drill start! 

That’s an upgrade on a crank handle that we used to start cars with. Well done 👍

Good content! Thank you for posting, you are a scholar and a gentleman.

sure makes it easier for older people, or the disabled who cant pull the rope

These generators are a Yamaha design that the Chinese kept manufacturing. I've had great luck with these, getting over 2000 hours on one of them. There is a trick to these. #1: Never pull the rope without the choke all the way on, it's likely to backfire and break the starter pawls (plastic) requiring a new blower shroud ($20). #2: When you turn these off, shut them off by shutting off the fuel. It will burn all the fuel from the carburetor and prevent any lacquer buildup inside the carburetor. #3: Don't leave fuel in the tank for long periods of time. If you embrace these few things, these little generators will run for years. While I don't know how it will perform for others, I've never had any problem running televisions or computers on these small generators.

great, thanks for this detailed Video, i have a similar Generator that has been paining my shoulders to start. gonna try this.

I was doing that back in the early 70s on a scooter I acquired from a friend. The kick start was broken but the drill worked perfectly.

You did everything the exact way I would have done it, whatever it takes. Great job!

A little handy hint if you're doing any sheet metal drilling, use a step drill bit and they work great.

Using a drill and socket to start an engine,especially a 2 cycle, can create a problem when the engine starts and turns faster than the drill and socket cannot be removed fast enough. Not only can the drill be damaged, but the flywheel nut can come off and allowing flywheel to come lose and damage the crank. Best to use a socket ratchet along with the socket.

I start my push mower the same way, just use a bigger drill. Good Job !

These generators are great for those emergencies, you only need a pull cord to start, the pesky rechargalbe tools need electricity to work, I hope yours are fully charged when needed!!

A genius in a T-shirt! Who would have thunk it!!

Nice little generator actually!

Great idea for most small engine applications. Emergency generator - not so much. What happens if you get a power outage and you battery drill is not charged?

Nice job!

Careful when you do this with a four cycle-if you don’t pull the socket off quick, it can send your drill on a flight, with your arm attached…

Did this to my lawnboy lawn mower a couple of years ago.

Handy tip thank you.

I did that with an old 1963 LI GRAVELY walk behind tractor. 1/2 inch drive drill or bigger , HOLD ON TIGHT.

When I built and raced the Harbor Freight and Briggs engines, we would take the flywheel nut off and repalce it with an extended crank nut. You could use a drill or a starter box to crank it. In a pinch, we would keep a cutoff Briggs 5hp pull start. You still need to cut a small hole in the blower housing for the nut to extend out. Make sure to remove the sharp edges from the hole you made.

Think I'd just fix the pull rope.

Remember, don't run engine for more than a minute with the cooling fan shroud removed, the engine will be overheated.

Use a 1-way clutch on the drill, so when it starts, it won’t wing the drill out of your hand, and maybe taking your fingers, or wrist out with it.

Let me just warn you that you run the risk of ruining the shaft by constantly using the drill on that nut. Either the nut or the shaft is harder than the other. Either way, you might torque the nut down too much. You might want to build a bridge that goes over it, and attach it outboard and above the shaft nut, attaching it to the flywheel somewhere that will not interfere with the magnets inside for the magneto.

Drill where nut thread meets crankshaft thread,drill and tap a thread 10 mm deep to take a high tensile grub screw and the nut will not loosen,definitely not without a ratchet device.Works extremely well!!Australia

I have used the drill trick, not for starting a small engine but for the purpose of performing a spark test or performing a compression test. A battery powered drill contains a reverse-current diode to quickly bring the drill to a stop when the operating trigger is released. When I use the drill on an engine, the braking effect does havoc on my wrist. A corded drill does not contain a reverse -current diode, so some amount of coasting is allowed when power is removed. This is much more comfortable on my wrist. Another way to resolve the wrist-twisting issue is to use a clutch or ratcheting mechanism. This would be even more necessary when using a drill for engine starting.

HF knock out (chassis punch) set would have been handy. Nice little project.

This is all good if you have a picture hanging drill like harbor freight, hart,or ryobi. But if you have a Dewalt XR or the Milwaukee Fuel I'd like to tell you before you make the same mistake I have. I went ahead and pulled the pull start off a clients junk Husky 300+ dollar 2 year old weedeater and it looks like brand new. I put the nut back on and was cranking it with the Fuel hammer drill which was not on hammer and I did have the clutch set up towards the higher end of the setting to turn it but still not break my wrist and I believe it could. I end up with the threads stripped on the crank to the point where I couldn't even get the nut back off until I finally got it to cross thread off ruined the crank as well. I learned not to do that ever again but also to not by Husqvarna anymore. I have the rough country chainsaw and I treat it right. I don't even use it once a month so I don't fill it up when I do I just try to get close to what I need non-e gas with a little more oil in it but run it out dry before I store it. Drain the gas tank and start it back up and let it run dry. Then your ready to let it sit. Nothing but non-e gas octane doesn't matter. If you have to use ethanol gas 93 contains less ethanol I believe then the lower grades to keep the 93 octane or it burns it better because of the high octane. Just experience that I have years of. I work on small engine's as 😢as side hustle. I am simply good at this

Nice video I did this a while ago with a 212 predator motor and my drill was not spinning it fast enough and it wasn't starting you have to make sure your drill spins it fast enough

I use an angle grinder with a flap wheel. It's held up for over 5 years now.

Genius, Pure Genius!

Excellent idea. But will it work with all of the other generators?

Ive refurbished 3 gas generators over the years. They run great for a year or so then need more regular carb cleanings. No matter if a fuel filter and shut off is installed. Sea foam helps greatly. Ive moved on to propane. You can store propane for a decade or more. Done with gas.

I love ingenuity.

Bravo.....ok........clever.........they used to crank model T 's.......airplanes........use a air starter and then u will have a compressor as a bye product .....cheers.

You will cry when the drill stips out the crankshaft nut and the flywheel drops of it can not take the load on most engines

Seeing your problem-solving makes this a great video. But, you need to pick up a 3-pack of step drills the next time you are at HF. They would have made your project so much easier and look better. They're the absolute best way to make holes in sheet metal (or plastic).

Did the rope starter have a one-way clutch that would be adaptable to your drill start?

I got you one even better than that. I chucked all my gas lawn tools & swapped them all out for ELECTRICS. No yanking, no choking, no fueling, no oil changing, no running to fill the gas can, no hard starts, no stalling. No smokin, no stink, no noise. I never knew life could be so good!!! !

Nice, I also have one of those tailgater POS and another brand the same size never tested. I was hoping to see something I could use to convert a little 4 stroke weed eater to electric start. It's not a yard tool anymore but a canoe drive using rc airplane propeller that are only a couple bucks not the $30+ for trolling motor ones.

Did this on my pressure washer and twisted crank shaft bolt off.

As someone else alluded to, you've now taken your emergency power source and made it dependent on electricity to start. Hopefully when the next emergency need comes up you haven't allowed your drill battery to be drained.

Great idea

thanks mister

Good Job.

I did the exact same thing about two years ago, except I accidentally had my drill in reverse once the engine started. It sucked out all of the power from my house and two of my neighbors we were in the dark for days.

Nice and without fancy film editing. Just what I like. Think you should put a nice rubber grommet over the hole. More esthetically pleasant. Plus the flowing air will have the same volumetric as before & same cooling. Thanks. Nice video.

I'm in my sixties with arthritis and bursitis in both shoulders. I got to try this. Plus, I'm lazy.

Hope your drill battery never dies !

Been there done that….😀

Remove the pull starter assembly. Take a Forstner Bit and drill the center of the cover. Reattach the cover. This is what I did to my push mower when the pull start broke.

Interesting, looks like you put the drill in reverse then it started. Did you put the drill in reverse?

What happens when you have to start the generator to charge your dead drill batteries? Great idea though.

So when power goes out your drill battery is dead and you can't start generator. I'm just kidding. Its a good video.

A little starter fluid goes a long way with these cheap generators.

I tried this one time when my mower rope broke. Well ended up breaking the transmission in my drill so at the end of the day I had a broken mower and a broken drill that cost more to fix then it was worth.

This is not a new thought, actually a company back in the seventies made a rubber adapter that went in the place of your pull start and you also had one for a drill. All you needed was to plug your drill in reach down with your adapter rubber socket your engine started with little fuss. My father had these and several of his lawn mowers. Not new just forgotten. Actually I still have one those setups. I think they were actually sold in popular mechanics a magazine to all you young people.

Use a circular drill bit from the outside

nice

Not terrible!

I noticed right off that you left the air flow shroud off over the flywheel. Probably not a good idea as those fins on the flywheel and the shroud direct cooling air to the engine. OK, I see you realized the cooling issue. Cool! All that drilling why not use a hole saw attachment on your drill. Probably would have gone right through that inner mount for the recoil starter too. I like your video because I have exactly the same generator. I have a couple of larger ones I plan to convert too. If those work as well, I'm considering a minibike to put over to my local grocery store with a bike trailer hooked on behind to get my groceries instead of driving my 1 ton dodge diesel pickup.

Actually no matter what kind of generator you buy, the more you use it the longer it will last. I have a champion china generator that has well over 10,000 hrs on it, and it doesn't even use any oil.

lol that thing had spark, you just didnt have it in drill mode and it was hammering and didnt want to look dumb

I did this for years to start my wacker 😂

Tried this with my harbor freight predator post hole digger that would never start and broke the bolt off the crank these are not made for this type of torque on that nut

Super 👍

Switching drills was probably a good idea.

What about one that has compression release.? This will never work on bigger engines.

Excellent video. Maybe Safety glasses to spare your eyes in case micro splinters are flying?

Good info...Thanks. But, where are your safety glasses?

well, as long as your drill battery isnt run down where you need the generator to charge the battery that you need to start the generator

That method works great until as long as your drill motor battery is charged.

Just use a wholesale dude from the front don’t need to take all the spot welds out.

What do you do if your power is out and your battery is dead?

I did something similar with my walk behind mower, but being safety conscious I used an overrunning clutch between the drill and the crankshaft. That way when the engine revs faster than the drill it won't damage my wrist nor the drill. An inexpensive 1/2 inch Torrington clutch does the job well enough.

DON'T expect much out of that thing, been there done that LOL

Did I see the engine being cranked in two different directions?

How ya gonna charge yout batteries

It will loosen the bolt that holds the flywheel in place ! (Nut)

This is a bad idea, but thanks for the effort.

Do not do this with gloves on when the gloves get ripped off your hand it hurts alot. You also can break off the cam bolt

Very good video but you should wear safety glasses

It's only good until the nut starts to strip. Lol

just buy a generac the 3250 bottom of the line now even has electric start.. best generator ever

I learned how to pour gas in it

Now that i runs first order is to charge the drill batteries.

Hammer mode maybe not the best idea

Safety first! Use sensible shoes!

I`m Sure Your Wife Loves Your Eyes.... Wear Some Safety Glasses Dude. Besides That, Great Video.💪

Wrist twister.

So when the power goes out, your arm doesn't work? You're thinking short term. Revisit after the next outage when your batteries have failed. Better solution is t oacquire another or modified pull start for the laziness. Narragansett Bay

Just. So people know you cannot use the rattle gun. You have to use a drill.

Why not make an attachment like a car hand crank so it will release better....😮

Peligroso no lo recomiendo, solo en una emergencia 😢

been doing this for over 20 years

good job it is something Ive done a few times. {remember to mention the use of a ratchet in the system} (im surprised how many dont think to use one in this) here is another use ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FckBIMatYzo.html

If drill goes down how you crank it lazy makes all not work

no you were cranking it in reverse

I will tuned engine will start in 1 or 2 pulls with fresh gas and choked properly. If store my gas equipment over the winter I run the engine out of gas to keep the carberator from gumming up

Safety third!!