MTFCA Forum

Do not crank you T with a rag in your hand. It will hurt.

Sorry for the misfortune. Right hand & wrist?

Right arm near wrist.

I always think about using my left hand to crank a T but my right hand refuses. It’s not a question of if but when the same thing will happen to me.

Don't be too offended when somebody tells you that you were cranking with the wrong hand.

Sorry to hear this news, Charles. Hope you heal quickly.

Thanks just wanted the model T community to be aware this does happen. I will get over it 6 weeks. Driving the t is fun and gets a hundred smiles an hr. People love seeing it always a smile and thumbs up. Always answered with a honk of the clown horn. Love it.

When I told my supervisor back in 1993 I had started building a Model T ford he said,"Well you better start saving your vacation and sick leave,you are going to need it." I ask why. He said,"that damn thing will break your arm".
Well,I took his advice,but so far I have not broke my arm.When I was sent out on disablity retirement,they had to pay me for over 75 sick days and about 60 vacation days!. But I use a sissy button,the electric starter. My left arm is not 100% so I don't want to break my good arm!

We need to be reminded of this. I can't seem to switch to the left hand and haven't been a victim in 50 some years but that's not a good excuse. Perhaps I'm saving my left until I break my right. No it's not a laughing matter. Use the left if at all possible.
Rich

I'm left-handed - no damn way I'm using my writing/eating hand to crank the dang T !!!

Yatcwhit wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 28, 2019 9:10 pm

Do not crank you T with a rag in your hand.

Ouch. Can I ask how the rag was involved to cause that? On my T the handle on the end of the crank is seized so I always wrap a rag around it to save the blisters on start up.

Tim, the handle can be freed up. hardest part might be getting it off the car. Then heat the sleeve to cherry red and allow to cool. Use a hammer to beat on the sleeve, backwards and forwards for its length, and round and round. This will break down the binding rust. Check for movement. Repeat heat and pounding if necessary. Once you have even the slightest movement, add some penetrant/lubricant and work away at increasing that movement. It will happen, and you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner. I buy seized crank handles when I can, free them up, and offer them at swap meets.

Hope this helps.
allan from down under

Did it kick back because you left it advanced accidently or is the timing out or timer faulty? The T should not put your wrist or arm in no danger,left or right handed, if the timing is retarded correctly for starting and the ignition circuit is in good condition.

Allan wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 28, 2019 11:39 pm

Tim, the handle can be freed up

Thanks Allan, that sounds like a good winter project.

sorry Charles. Good luck with the healing and rehab process.

If you wrap your hand around the crank it will definitely break you wrist if it kicks back. Don’t wrap your thumb around it. If it does kick back it the handle will usually will kick out of your hand. The same goes when hand cranking any old gas engine. And be sure to retard the spark when hand cranking a T!
My uncle would crank his by T engaging the crank horizontally and pushing down with his foot to start his.
I sometimes crank start my 54 NAA Ford tractor the same way when the battery gets low.

What Allan said....but let me add one extra step....quench with water. Always on dissimilar metals rusted together. I too get enjoyment separating rusted Model T cranks.....
get a life, huh?

George House wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 29, 2019 9:58 am

What Allan said....but let me add one extra step....quench with water. Always on dissimilar metals rusted together. I too get enjoyment separating rusted Model T cranks.....
get a life, huh?

I get a huge kick out of taking any old rusted, seized up item and coaxing it loose then making it functional again. There's something immensely satisfying about it. Once freed up and usable, those old things tend to be better at whatever it is they do than their modern counterpart and always outlast them.

I cannot claim an uninterrupted 57 years of "un-reconstructed" right hand cranking. After my first model T there were many years of hand-cranking a Case Model "D" tractor in between it and the Lizzie I have now. I've had a gentle "nudge" a time or two reminding me I was careless enough to leave the spark advanced. As with my ponies, I've never been kicked by either, but I am aware of the inherent risks, and endeavor to be cautious around both of them. I don't "spin" the crank anymore. A quarter-turn lift should be adequate for a T in good tune. Perhaps I have it wrong, most of the injuries I've been aware of have happened while pushing down. As for the rag, any impediment that could get you "hung up" should be avoided. A blister beats a broken arm any day.

Sorry to hear of your injury. Ouch!

I always crank right hand with thumb in. Set the crank at about 7:00 and pull up. Always fully retard the spark. Never any problem. The very few times in forty years of cranking happened when I left the spark where it was after driving. I got smarter over time and for many years I got in the habit of retarding the spark and gas as soon as I shut the motor down.

Rich Eagle, if you paint with your right hand please please please please start cranking with your left!!!!

Here is the official vintage statement for which hand to use for cranking. Damn ... now I have to retrain myself.

If my T required some many pulls to wear blisters I believe I would fix the problem. Or wear a glove.

Mark is absolutely right. Get in the habit of raising the spark advance lever all the way up at the same time you turn off the key.

I will add to this, don't trust the "measure the timer rod" method of setting the initial timing. Sure, go ahead and follow the instructions in the manual, but follow up with a visual test: Take out the #1 spark plug, reattach the plug wire, and lay the plug on the head. Crank until the #1 cylinder is in the compression stroke. Turn the ignition switch to battery. With the spark lever up, slowly crank the engine while looking through the spark plug hole with a flashlight, and confirm that the piston is on its way down before the plug fires. 15.5°ATDC isn't much. If you can't tell visually, one of the TDC tools from the vendors may help.

Yup .... that’s the same way I set my timers. Generally my engine gives me a free start in the morning. I crank through three cylinders with the choke on and switch off. Then turn on the key. Starts right up. I also wipe the inside of my vintage New Day Timer with a little worn piece of scotchbrite followed by an alcohol damp rag about once a month and check the plugs.

I was always told to not wrap your thumb around the crank, I have never tried cranking left handed though.
I usually use my foot nowadays...push the button down with my heel !! I won't say which foot in fear of ridicule.

Sorry bout your wrist Charles.

Ha ! Birds of a feather flock together Don. I’d like to give you an “immensely satisfying” experience by taking this $&%#€* steering wheel spider off the column..

A reminder/tip to T owners and drivers... it shouldn't be so, but when you park your T in public, like at a show or a cruise-in, etc, even if you, like me, always retard the timing when you shut it off, check to make sure a spectator has not moved that lever! Twice I have seen people, one a good friend of mine, but not a T owner , showing interested onlookers the controls and leaving the spark advanced after the demonstration was over. I've thought about hooking a wire up to my lever from an ignition coil to discourage people from touching it! Only problem is I have a bunny tail memory, you know, short and fuzzy, so I would probably forget about it and zap myself.

I drive my T to work nearly every day unless I have a lot to carry. The visitors to the Museum often think it’s George Eastman’s car. Strangely .. when they think it was his car .. they often think it’s ok to climb into it for pictures and even open the hood! So I put this sign near the pedals before I go into the building.

Is it effective ?

Mark Osterman:

I typically don't mind if folks want to touch my unrestored roadster, especially if they asked first.

However, I got tired of folks who thought they could aggressively manhandle the car.

(On a side note, when I brought my dad's touring to work for an employee car show, someone removed the taillight font when I was at lunch. They tried to reinstall it but did so incorrectly so it was just dangling from the lamp. Lucky I didn't lose it on the drive back home.)

George, if you unscrew the cover and remove the wheel, cover and centre shaft, the job will be much easier.Now you can get some heat into it without causing any damage. A couple of cycles of heating/cooling should break it loose. Setting it up in a press may be a better way of applying pressure.
Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

Pushing down on the crank handle, with either foot or arm, is asking for trouble. In both cases the limb above the joint, either ankle or wrist, will take a whole lot of load if the engine backfires. When pulling up on the handle, that load simply pulls the handle out of the grip, and the worst that may happen is you get the back of your knuckles rapped by the returning handle.
Allan from down under.

No, I don’t mind at all if people touch my car if I’m there with it. And I frequently let people get inside for snapshots. In fact, I have let wedding photographer use the car every time I come upon them in the park near our house.

As far as at the Museum and my sign. It works most of the time. But the people who work in the cafe at the Museum occasionally do see people sitting inside it; usually non english speakers who probably can’t read my sign.

Mark, you reminded me of an incident when we were on a Sunday tour . We had parked our T's outside a winery in South Australia's beautiful Barossa Valley while sampling a drop or two in the tasting area. When one of our members heard his distinctive horn blowing, he went outside to discover a bunch of German tourists In and all over his car. We'd seen them arrive earlier, so he knew their hire car. They'd left it unlocked, keys in the ignition, so he just jumped in and started her up, honking all the time. The look on their faces was priceless. We think they got the message!!!!

Allan from down under.

So sorry to hear about the injury, I to, am guilty of cranking the cars right handed, mostly because my right arm is more capable of starting it. Yes I have had it back-fire but so far have always been able to hold it from spinning backwards. I'm getting older and better start using the correct way religiously . Occasionally my car will flood and will start if I spin crank it. This would not be possible with my left hand. Most of my cars have starters but I still crank them. Thanks for sharing and be caring of you arm so it will heal correctly.