Hey all,

I converted a Stihl 25CC weedie here last summer, with your guy's help.

One problem that I have not yet overcome is the issue of starting this monster.

I plan on using a 16x8 prop. I anint gonna hand prop it, but will a "standard" glow starter do the trick?

The other idea I had was to use the back of the crank that the pull start grabs. Has anyone tried it? Can it be done?

Just so you don't think I'm totally crazy, this will be mounted onto a swamp boat, so accessing the back of the crank would be a snap.

If you have a Sullivan starter and a good hot battery it might start. My Sullivan would start (with a little difficulty) my 25cc engines, but they were souped up with higher compression. (My Hobbico "heavy duty" wouldn't start them.) I've since bought a "Basic Starter" from Central Hobbies that is gear reduced and works great! It was $40.00.

Good luck,
AV8TOR

All my conversions start very easy by hand starting with a leather glove to protect the digits. Also have CH electronic ignitions too. There should not be any kick to worry about if you have the prop set at about 2 on a closk under compression because when you pull the prop through your hand is always going to be away from the prop.

Sullivans Dynatron will turn over a 25cc even on a small gell cell, but you have to back it up against the compression to give the starter a chance to accelerate. On 24v, it will even crank a 50cc. I got mine cheap from a guy that was going to just electrics...look in the classifieds here, rcg, and ebay for em.

I start my Homelight 30 with the regular Hobbico starter and the gelcell flight box battery. Never had any problem. The engine is standard compression. This starter will not turn over my Saito 150 though.

I do have the bigger Hobbico starter but it's not any better than the little one on a small battery. On a car battery it is good.

I also have Sullivan Dynatron but it is more of a lawn tractor battery or car battery starter. This Dynatron is much better quality and is bigger than the Great Planes and Horizon starters.

You can run 24 volts on the Hobbicos like you can on the Dynatron but just for short spurts.

Enjoy,

Jim

I really like the Basic Starter I got from Central Hobbies. They said it would start a 50cc engine with ease. I can't testify to that exactly, but it does spin my high compression souped up 30cc over easily. I would rather buy a gear reduced starter like this for $40.00, than lug TWO batteries or a heavy lawn tractor battery around....

AV8TOR

Gottagofaster,I found myself in this same position not too long ago myself.I have two electric starters.One is a a Magnum and the other is a standard Sullivan.Neither one will turn over my Homelite 30 or my friends Homelite 25...at all.....and this is with a brand new 9AH battery installed in the flight box.I priced out one of the larger more powerful Sullivan starters and decided immediately that I wasn't going down that road.After all,the name of the game here is to keep the project cheap right!.

Well ,one day I was over at my local Canadian Tire store and was playing around with some of the cordless drills when I stumbled upon this two gear ratio 18 volt cordless drill.It had this slide mechanism on top of the drill that would change the gear ratio of the drill.I got to wondering about the possibilities of taking my Sullivan starter cup off of my Sullivan starter and installing it on a modified bolt that could be chucked into the drill.This drill had some serious torque to it but yet still seem to have enough R.P.M to it even under load.To make a long story short,$40 later and a little MacGyvering (hack sawing,filing,grinding of a matching threaded bolt,and of course LocTited all together),I had myself a Sullivan starter cone assembly that could be chucked into my 18 volt cordless drill.After testing the new starter assembly on my Homelite 30,I can tell you that this thing works like a charm(that two speed gear ratio really makes a big difference in starting).The beauty here of this starter is that you can still use it as a regular around the house drill and it sure makes justifying the expenditure to your wife a lot easier.Especially when you tell her how much easier and more efficient you'll be at fixing up stuff for her with your newly acquired tool.Hey,if it works and gets you by........go with it dudes!I found that by adding a aluminum starter cone(5/16"-24) to the engine,it allows the starter to grip the crankshaft much better and deliver more torque and r.p.m to the engine allowing it to fire up faster.It also keeps the starter centered much better and generates much less vibration into the firewall and airframe.Hope this is of some assistance to you.

Turbobeaver:
thanks for the reminder. A couple years ago I bought a starter cone designed to go on my drill. I quite using it cause it didn't have the RPM's to start my old enya's. Wound up buying an old slyvan pylon starter. I'll see if I can re-locate it here in the near future.

PS how big of a spinner am I gonna need for a 16x8 prop anyways? Is 3" enough or do I need something in the 4" range?

I'm not using a plastic or spun aluminum spinner on my engines but rather a spinner prop nut.The one that I'm currently using on my Homelite 30 is a Dubro #731 which is threaded for 5/16"x 24.I did away with the standard prop bolt and went with a 5/16"x 24 grade 5 stud and spinner nut set up instead.I used red Loctite on the stud where it threads into the prop hub and blue for a little extra security and peace of mind where the spinner nut threads onto the prop stud.Probably isn't necessary to use the blue on the spinner nut as it is quite snug after you've tightened it down (and is yet to loosen off while starting with the cordless) but I like to play as safe as possible especially when amongst other fellow flyers.Yeah.....I'm a bit of a worry wort when it comes to stuff like that.

Hey Beaver,

Hate to say it, but you got more tied up in that than I paid for my Dynatron(35.00 shipped), and I sold my old std Sullivan for 20 or 25.00 shipped, so really it only cost me 10.00 to upgrade. But on the other hand, mine doesnt double as a drill

Gofli,a Sullivan Dynatron here in Canada sells for around $100 + taxes [X(]so $40 sounds quite a bit cheaper doesn't it.Starter cone didn't cost me a thing as I already had one as do most flyers on their standard starters.Invest a little effort here modifying a bolt and it doesn't get much cheaper than that dude for a brand spanking new 18 volt device that will start your Homies...........and don't forget I'm talking Canadian dollars here so that works out to about $34.53 US.The beauty here is that it can be used as so much more than a starter at the field(the field repair manager will love ya) and you aren't reliant upon your field box as a power source every time you go to start your engine with your starter.Complete portability.

TB,

Makes sense to me...I know I got an real good deal on mine. I also have the portability, I made some brackets and mounted a gel cell to it, so its cordless, essentially. Durn thing weighs 9 lbs tho!

Later,
David