Follow along as I convert a Harbor Freight tailgator generator to start with a cordless drill. Don't fix your broken pull/rope start, convert to electric start.
That was a real how-to experiment….no unnecessary editing Great video of a guy just tinkering around to make something more convenient … Fun to watch…love it!
You want to keep it running longer? Get rid of the 2cycle crud oil mix and use Amsoil 100:1 2cycle oil because synthetic oil protects better and you use less oil. I was a former professional small engine mechanic.
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.
@@TheLawnEngineer I think these are great little generators and underrated. They are noisy compared to a Honda, but the Honda is incredibly expensive by comparison. I've had a lot of good luck with these over the years, and it's often the perfect size.
They are a pain to start because they are 2 cycle and the pull cord is quite short to get speed. Step 1, drill an access hole in the plastic carb cover (air filter panel) that you can plug with a tiny cork. Step 2: set to run and spray with starting fluid. Step 3: put cork in hole Step 4: choke it and pull slowly through one complete revolution. Step 5: put it on half choke and pull slowly just to 1st compression stroke then pull fast. Should start on 1st fast pull. Or 2nd. The running them dry still leaves gas mix in the carb bowl (about 1/2). If old that'll fight you. There's no purge tap, so just remove bowl (one easy nut) and dump. I miss purge taps.
@@rcnelson it is a crappy generator. It works, but it is a fiddly carb. It is a $70 700watt generator for just lights and a few power tools on a spot. I bought it for work out in my woods where I can easily toss it in the back of the vehicle...without the mass and overkill weight of a real generator. Extremely loud. They retail for 150 now and aren't worth that. Easier to buy a small battery pack today...but not 10 years ago. They do last, but the power sine wave will only settle out with a load 1st like several lights or a fan before you try to plug in a sensitive device.
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FckBIMatYzo.html this shows Gluing the socket And the rachet device - extra precaution that are a good idea.
I used this idea while troubleshooting a no-start, allowed me to concentrate on finding the problem rather than my tired arm. I'll say, if the starter center shaft bushing is packed full with heavy grease, the spring won't retract the pull cord properly in very cold weather.
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.
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.
You are correct, I made a follow up video about that topic: Watch this Before Converting Engine to Drill Start ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jf4qOC9220I.html
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.
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
Some flywheel fans are held on with a left handed thread ( it keeps the nut tight when the engine is running ) using the pistol drill can sometime undo the nut and give you a lot of grief.
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.
Absolutely right. I made a follow up video here: Watch this Before Converting Engine to Drill Start ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jf4qOC9220I.html
I think this should be left to do on 2 cycle engines four cycle engines have a compression state when it's hard to get past that point. Two cycle engines are much easier to pull and the fly wheel movers more freely. I have an old lawn boy mower I would like to try this. All these new mowers don't have the placement of the wheels is the right place. The old days the front wheels were in two different places. The rearars like they are today. The front wheels had one in the front end the one on the right were about one third back for mowing uneven yards. I sure miss that in a mower . 73
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!!
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 have one of these, and many others, I'd say about 7 generators right now. They all last forever and never varnish. The trick is before you put it away, shut off the fuel, let it run till it starts to die, put the choke on till it dies and then the fuel is gone enough it won't varnish. I have an off grid cabin and put tens of thousands of hours on cheap little generators I never would have thought could run that long
The rope is always in place, don’t have to go and get the drill, find the socket, hope the battery is not flat. Just use the rope, that’s what its for.🇦🇺
Good point, I made a follow up video Watch this Before Converting Engine to Drill Start ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jf4qOC9220I.html
As an old machinist, I have always been aggravated at manufacturers of pull start engines for not having a hex or allen head shaft end coming thru the housing to use a drill! I hate yanking on a Stihl chainsaw or a weedeater!
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 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.
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.
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!!! !
If you have a small yard electric will probably work. A half acre or bigger your not gonna like electric the battery won't get the job done weed wackers and leaf blowers suck a battery pretty quickly. Their hard on batteries also last time I checked a decent sized battery for a weed wacker cost about the same as a small gas powered weed wacker and you'll need several batteries if you have a large piece of property so you can keep swapping them out when they go dead.
Battery worked great till my power went down. My ev car couldn't even make it to town to by gas for my generator. And of course my solar panels weren't getting any sun now what ?
I agree, the user experience is vastly better with high quality battery electric tools. There are still some nichs uses that gasoline is better but quickly disappearing.
I'm poor, I can't pay for all the batteries needed to get work done, then replacing batteries when I can afford 4x the gas equipment maintained right...
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).
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.
The nut is a left hand thread. You will eventually crack & back it off meaning the fly wheel will become lose on the shaft. You could also sheer the drive shaft key. 😉 Both could result in expensive repairs.
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.
Yes that can happen. I discuss that in this video: Watch this Before Converting Engine to Drill Start ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jf4qOC9220I.html
That would be quite ironic, wouldn't it? I'll make sure I keep one battery charged so I don't have to explain that to the family when the power does go out =)
You can make it work with almost any generator or small engine. There are some reasons you may not want to, check this out for that discussion:ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jf4qOC9220I.html
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’m glad you liked the video 👍. I too was surprised at the drill speed required to get the engine started. I’m sure the drill requirements go up significantly with engine displacement.
@@chrisbaker2903 Yes, I don't think my DeWalt drill would be able to turn that beast over. In the early 2000s I had a Suburban with the 6.2L non-turbo diesel. I believe those are 22:1 and it turned over very slowly, especially in winter.
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.
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.
You can make a propeller out of a flat piece of stainless steel flat bar 1/8 " thick × 1 3/4 " wide by 6 - 7" long , it don't take a lot of pitch to make it move water .
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.
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.
Speaking from experience you will strip the threads of the end of the crank, then after more tinkering you might break off the end of the crankshaft. Ask my weed eater (stihl) 😮😢
I think I did accidentally have the wrong direction at one point. However, this is a 2 stroke engine so it will run in either direction. The cooling fan is designed to run clockwise so don't want to intentionally run counter.
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?
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.
Thanks for checking in Chris. The only reason for not using a hole saw is I don’t have one of the appropriate size. I would really like to know how the harbor freight mini bike works out, please check back.
@@chrisbaker2903 That makes more sense. Those little bikes do look fun to play around with. I have a Honda 50cc trail bike growing up...lots of good memories.
@@TheLawnEngineer Thanks. I've also got a predator engine from HF and I am considering mounting it so that it can turn a 12 VDC (nominal, usually about 13.8) alternator from a car to power my amateur radios during Field Day. It is irritating to my sensibilities to generate house voltage and current and then convert it to 12 VDC to run DC appliances. It's not an efficient process.
@@chrisbaker2903 that sounds like a good idea. Are you going to include something for capacitance like a battery? I often wonder if we are going to go back to DC to some degree within homes. With LEDs and battery charging we are using quite a bit of direct current electricity.
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.
I actually used an impact driver first and completely agree, that is the wrong tool. Then I messed with the plug wire and it fell apart. You should subscribe and watch more videos to see more dumb things I do.
Just a thought why can't one take a old stater and use a belt connected to a clutch like that's used on snow mobiles but smaller, connecting the clutch to the dc shaft and mounting a small pulley to the engine. Just a thought I had
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.
Good points, thanks for the taking the time to check-in. I did a follow-up video to talk about some points you mentioned. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jf4qOC9220I.html
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
I did a follow up video covering these points Watch this Before Converting Engine to Drill Start ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jf4qOC9220I.html
Unfortunately, most pull start engines don't have a center bolt but some weird three tooth assembly that is part of the clutch mechanism, so your idea will work on 1% of the small engines on the market, ie only small electric generators.
@@TheLawnEngineer It's guesstimate I pulled out of a hat. It can be 5,10% or more. I tried to do it with my grass trimmer a long time ago, but without major surgery it's "No way, Jose". Cheers ..
