Any one had experience of these? I was beside one starting yesterday & its an unusual starter sound certainly.
I remember an old Outback Truckers when the guy went to start his & it was out of air & he had to get an air jump from another truck, what else could you do if that’s not an option? Is there an adaptor set up so you take tyre air? & then re inflate when running?
Years ago when I was in REME, we had big 27.5 KvA generators which sat on a 4-wheeled A-frame trailer and were powered by a Meadows diesel engine. They started using compressed air, but of course if you’d had to work on them the air had to be drained so a starting handle was provided as a back-up; huge great thing which needed two men to swing it, and kicked in using a clock-type escapement after about six full turns. Being REME (smarter than the average soldier 
) we weren’t going to waste our energy cranking the ■■■■ things over ourselves so the starting procedure was as follows:
Go to NAAFI canteen.
Carefully select four of the dumbest looking newest recruit Gunners you can find; not the easiest of tasks as they’re all pretty dumb, that’s why they’re Gunners. You have to use new ones cos even Gunners have some form of basic retentive memory, a bit like slugs have with salt.
Offer Gunners the chance to be a “mechanic for a day”; when you’ve got all four nodding in unison ( helps cos they’ll work better together) march them back to the workshop.
Position the two strongest-looking Gunners with their hands on the starting handle, gripping with fingers only and with thumbs turned inwards. This is not Masonic, but a damage limitation. Stand the other two Gunners within shouting distance but clear of the trajectory of the starting handle.
(You can see what’s coming, can’t you? 
)
Instruct Gunners to start cranking; once they’ve got a decent head of steam up, but before they get tired, drop the catch on the escapement.
Retire swiftly to safe distance.
(a) If generator starts first time (possible one in a thousand chance) leave running, take Gunners back to NAAFI and buy them tea and a cake. Mark the two unused Gunners as potentials for next time.
7)(b) If generator fails to start, repeat as necessary, using spare set of Gunners if required.
7)(c) If generator backfires (probable one in ten chance) detail functional Gunners to take damaged Gunners to Medical Centre. Clean up mess on floor, using absorbent granules for blood if necessary. Return to NAAFI and try again.
Sidevalve:
Years ago when I was in REME, we had big 27.5 KvA generators which sat on a 4-wheeled A-frame trailer and were powered by a Meadows diesel engine. They started using compressed air, but of course if you’d had to work on them the air had to be drained so a starting handle was provided as a back-up; huge great thing which needed two men to swing it, and kicked in using a clock-type escapement after about six full turns. Being REME (smarter than the average soldier
Go to NAAFI canteen.
Carefully select four of the dumbest looking newest recruit Gunners you can find; not the easiest of tasks as they’re all pretty dumb, that’s why they’re Gunners. You have to use new ones cos even Gunners have some form of basic retentive memory, a bit like slugs have with salt.
Offer Gunners the chance to be a “mechanic for a day”; when you’ve got all four nodding in unison ( helps cos they’ll work better together) march them back to the workshop.
Position the two strongest-looking Gunners with their hands on the starting handle, gripping with fingers only and with thumbs turned inwards. This is not Masonic, but a damage limitation. Stand the other two Gunners within shouting distance but clear of the trajectory of the starting handle.
(You can see what’s coming, can’t you?
Instruct Gunners to start cranking; once they’ve got a decent head of steam up, but before they get tired, drop the catch on the escapement.
Retire swiftly to safe distance.
(a) If generator starts first time (possible one in a thousand chance) leave running, take Gunners back to NAAFI and buy them tea and a cake. Mark the two unused Gunners as potentials for next time.
7)(b) If generator fails to start, repeat as necessary, using spare set of Gunners if required.
7)(c) If generator backfires (probable one in ten chance) detail functional Gunners to take damaged Gunners to Medical Centre. Clean up mess on floor, using absorbent granules for blood if necessary. Return to NAAFI and try again.
If no Pub is near You try Amazon
May be OK if not used too often. Then. Get you a empty Plastic Spray Bottle,fill some Liquid Soap in and Water and spray itr over The Air System. On leaking Point will Soap-Booble build up
Sidevalve:
Years ago when I was in REME, we had big 27.5 KvA generators which sat on a 4-wheeled A-frame trailer and were powered by a Meadows diesel engine. They started using compressed air, but of course if you’d had to work on them the air had to be drained so a starting handle was provided as a back-up; huge great thing which needed two men to swing it, and kicked in using a clock-type escapement after about six full turns. Being REME (smarter than the average soldier
Go to NAAFI canteen.
Carefully select four of the dumbest looking newest recruit Gunners you can find; not the easiest of tasks as they’re all pretty dumb, that’s why they’re Gunners. You have to use new ones cos even Gunners have some form of basic retentive memory, a bit like slugs have with salt.
Offer Gunners the chance to be a “mechanic for a day”; when you’ve got all four nodding in unison ( helps cos they’ll work better together) march them back to the workshop.
Position the two strongest-looking Gunners with their hands on the starting handle, gripping with fingers only and with thumbs turned inwards. This is not Masonic, but a damage limitation. Stand the other two Gunners within shouting distance but clear of the trajectory of the starting handle.
(You can see what’s coming, can’t you?
Instruct Gunners to start cranking; once they’ve got a decent head of steam up, but before they get tired, drop the catch on the escapement.
Retire swiftly to safe distance.
(a) If generator starts first time (possible one in a thousand chance) leave running, take Gunners back to NAAFI and buy them tea and a cake. Mark the two unused Gunners as potentials for next time.
7)(b) If generator fails to start, repeat as necessary, using spare set of Gunners if required.
7)(c) If generator backfires (probable one in ten chance) detail functional Gunners to take damaged Gunners to Medical Centre. Clean up mess on floor, using absorbent granules for blood if necessary. Return to NAAFI and try again.
Here is a picture to bring back happy memories sidevalve.My pride and joy in the early 80’s when stuck in 8 FD WKSP in sunny colly
8 FD WKSP (19).tif (2.16 MB)
should be a hose under the seat/in jockey box to go from air tank tae a tyre ,that’s enough to fire ere up…then just blow tyre back up when air tank full. that’s what our auld macks have . they are a real granny frighteners 
I used to a bit of spanner work for a place with a meadows generator , it had a valve lifter fitted so it was possible to crank it over single handed ( only had compression on pot 1 ) when it fired ,flick the lever and bingo ! .the method was the same as kicking over a big single cylinder motorbike. ease it over tdc and use its own momentum carry on the stroke . can I add I was much younger /fitter /stronger in those days .
Had quite a few hand start Kelvin K series marine engines where you swung the handle and got it to fire on petrol then when up to sufficient speed throw the lever over to run on diesel but don’t do it too early or the fly wheel will spring back and start it running backwards, no problem there except for using the air intake for the exhaust. Bit smokey though 