I use low pressure air on my little Detroit 3-53.
Steve

"Steve Lusardi" wrote in message
...
Bob,
I had a friend before he died that built a 60' concrete catch in Okinawa
and after the hull was finished took it to Yokohama to get the rig
installed. As he was motoring up the Ryukyu Island chain, the engine
overheated with a failed sal****er pump impeller. He stopped the engine,
changed the impeller as he had a spare and went to restart the engine, but
bilge water shorted the starter. The boat foundered, washed up on a coral
reef and was lost. Do you really want an electric starter? You have a
choice, hydraulic or air. Most hydraulic starters work off the front of
the crank shaft. They are VERY violent and unless the crank was designed
for this very high torque shock, it will shear the snout of the crank
clean off at the front main bearing. You have been warned! Now, air is a
different animal all together. It comes in 2 flavors high pressure and low
pressure. Low pressure =8 to 9 bar (130psi). High pressure = 12-15 bar.
Both systems are good, but require dual air storage and at least two
compressors,so this is big boat stuff because of the space requirement.
Steve

"Bob" wrote in message
...
Hi all:

Does anyone here have a hydraulic start engine in their sailboat? Id
especially like to hear from those with 50 HP.

Stuff like where ya got the starter or any reliability issues.
Bob