[AT] Adding electric start

[jtchall at nc.rr.com]

We have a small generator that was bought in the early 60's to pull a 
tobacco looper (a 20 ft long conveyor with a big sewing machine in the 
middle). It is a vertical shaft Briggs engine--only vertical shaft 
generator unit I have ever seen. It’s the only Briggs I have ever seen that 
will crank without spinning it fast--because you cant! The armature weighs 
so much all you can do is get a long steady pull and go for it, theres 
enough momentum there to keep it going long after you stop spinning.

I have seen one other Briggs that was hard to spin fast. When I first 
started collecting old iron, one of the first things I bought was a model ZZ 
Briggs, about 6hp. This thing is more like a single cylinder Wisconsin with 
no impulse magneto--huge engine compared to the actual HP. Even my dad who 
was quite strong back when I got this thing 30 years ago couldn't pull it 
through fast enough to crank. On this one it is an early 50's unit that you 
hand wind the starter rope. We learned to pull it up on compression and rock 
it a few times before pulling it through with both arms.


Regarding Spencers issue, looks to me unless electric start was offered as 
an option and you could find a junk machine to rob those parts off of, he's 
got 3 other ways to go.

Experiment with adding some sort of electric start attachment, maybe a 
starter generator with a pulley mounted under the flywheel nut? You'd have 
to do some parts scavenging and butcher you air shroud to do this.

Take you model and spec to a Briggs dealer and see if they can come up with 
a direct replacement new engine with electric start. My thinking here is 
crank size and the appropriate sized bearing on the output side to handle 
the impeller. Not to mention the correct bolt pattern for the blower 
housing.

Lastly, start looking for another unit with electric start, new or used. 
Then put yours up on Craigslist.

Don't worry about your wife not being able to crank the unit you have. Half 
the stuff me and dad have is so old and quirky you have to be mechanically 
minded to crank and use it.

John Hall