smallest diesel

[Jocelyne]

what is the smallest diesel you can buy, I am looking for something hand crank of about 4 hp, but does it exist

[Troubledour]

I'll do some digging around for you this evening & post back, but good luck on the hand cranking thing, diesels run on compression.

troubledour

[Stede]

Hi Jocelyne,

My 26 footer has a inboard Volvo-Penta 8 hp diesel. I don't know if any mfg.makes anything smaller than that, but I'm sure any of the dealers-Yanmar,Volvo,Westerbeke,would be glad to provide you some information. I believe you'll need a decompression valve on the engine to be able to hand crank. My 8hp doesn't have one.Good luck!

[Troubledour]

http://www.marinedieseldirect.com/re...westerbeke.htm

I might also add that you'll need an electrical system anyway, pick your power source. To get the engine started you typically have to charge the fuel pump & presurize the system (or more accurately, maintain pressure) while lighting up & warming the glow plugs ... only then will cranking the engine be worth doing.

If you can explain your letch for a pull cord we may be able to offer suggestions. I can tell you this much from many years of flying no electrical system classic aircraft ... the romance of hand propping wears off quick, especially if you're soloing & have no-one handy to stand on the brakes while you (sometimes literally) flip off the prop.

Troubledour

[sy Dolce Vita]

Faryman makes a 6 hp that can be hand cranked

[Skylark]

http://www.farymann.de/english/enginedata/15w.htm



http://www.lovson.com/engineering.html


http://www.yanmar.com/marine/pdfs2/123GM.pdf

[Troubledour]

New Lawnboy Engines !

Troubledour

[CSY Man]

Hmm, cute looking diesel.

Wish I was 20 years younger..

Why do ya want such a small diesel?
It may be just as expensive as a bigger one, or more due to the low sales volume and the precision engineering of the parts.

I am guessing here, but if ya are a sailor with a small sailing boat, say a 20' pocket cruiser, ya need at least 10 or more horsepower.
20 would sure be the goal as one could run at reduced RPM, yet have some reserve power for them nasty conditions with the current and wind in yer face...

A 4 HP diesel..?

Hmm, would that be for the dink, or as a spare for the spare...?

(This CSY Man sails a 33' boat with a 51 HP engine and are perhaps spoiled in that regard...Yet I have never met a sailor that has complained that his engine or his anchor are too big. Perhaps the 8 or 10 HP diesel can be had for the same price as a mini-4 ?
Check it out...)

[troppoboat]

G'Day Jocelyne
Small Diesels (4hp) are available Lombardini and Lister make some good ones. Unfortunately as has been suggested by others hand cranking in cold weather can be no fun and when you get to that size they are mostly air cooled (noisy) and vibrate a lot. For a small application such as yours you may want to have a look at Honda 5hp industrial motors they are a 4 stroke petrol (gas) item but very economical to buy and run and parts can be purchaced anywhere. good luck Shane

[tenknots]

Made an MD-1 and MD-2 diesel. The MD-2 was a 2-cylinder and the MD-1 was a single - both could be hand cranked. I had the MD-2 and was able to hand crank it by myself just barely. With two people, one to crank and one to flip the decompression levers it went OK. I assume the MD-1 would be easier. There was no glow plug setup on either engine, just a cold start lever. Never had trouble starting it in Alaska down to 45 degrees or so.

I think hand cranking is a great idea if you only need a small engine. I was glad I had it several times.

[Jeff H]

I had a small 8HP Buhk single cylinder that I could rope start in my prior 28 footer. The key is to back the flywheel as far as you could and then let fly. Yanmar used to have a 8 hp single (I have not seen anything about it lately) that had a crank for backup and that might be preferable. This was a very light weight engine so a lot of small MORC race boats used it.

Jeff