That happened to my Dad in one of his older Mercedes diesel. Bumped the starter, the engine lit but ran in reverse.

MikeyB

 

I've seen and heard of detroit 6v92's and 6v71's that will burp and fart and then start running in reverse. Those are some interesting engines.

 

The big difference with "accidental reversals" is that exhaust comes out the intake and fresh air comes in the exhaust.

On a marine diesel the cam timing is shifted so that all the gases use the proper plumbing.

 

I not for certain but I think Deere started doing this in the early fifties with the Model R and the mid-fifties with the Model 70 and again in the late fifties with the 720-730's. I know the later had a 376 c.i. diesel that made about 46 hp at the drawbar at 1125 rpms. I started collecting and was to buy a 720 when a Tornado took care of what I had last summer...now I lost interest.

 

Any pictures of the pony start. This is a great sunday morning read(Rainy done here in S Fl)

 

There is a picture of a Cat pony motor here http://www.angelfire.com/yt/ponymotor/
Note it probably has more hp and is twice as heavy as any of the four cylinder engines used in new cars and can see why starting it with a pull rope was a real pain. Look close to the bottom left of the large air cleaner for the handle that engages the clutch to turn over the diesel engine.
The add on electric starter only starts the pony, not the diesel. Getting rid of the pull rope requires that you add batteries and an alternator, the older Cats had no electrical system. Most Cats of this era didn't have hydraulics either, the blade was lifted by a wench and cable.

Here's a pony for a smaller D4 Cat, two opposed cylinders with the pulley the starter rope wrapped on shown.

 

I used to work with my neighbor who drilled well. One of his well drilling trucks had a Duetz motor that was pony start by a 4 cylinder ford industrial gas engine. We could also get the duetz to run in reverse when we needed to pull cable back up faster

Side note: Dont the newer rotax motors in ski doo sleds fire in reverse to get the machine back-up?

 

The JD R model I have has a two cylinder pup that can be started electrically or by rope if the battery is dead. The pup helps heat up the coolant in the big engine and the exhaust from the pup goes through part of the exhaust on the big engine to help warm it up. The big engine is 416 cubic inch two cylinder turning about 1100 rpm wide open. The compression release holds the exhaust valves open while you engage the pup with another lever. I turn it over until the big engine builds up oil pressure and then release the compression lever and it fires up every time. Something to be said for simplicity.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...cat=500&page=3

 

[Long John Silver voice]And a right lusty wench she was, Jim lad! Arrr![/Long John Silver voice]

 

The bad thing about the detroits running backwards is they would suck the oil back out of the motor and if you didn't drop the clutch and kill it fast then you just spent a load of money. My dad had a truck that did this. He had a friend of his driving it and it took him a minute to talk him into dumping the clutch but he did it soon enough to keep from blowing metal everywhere.

 

Yes the Rotax ski-doos do fire in reverse, as do the Polaris sleds.

 

And Rudolph Diesel's first compression ignition engine ran on vegetable oil, not diesel fuel.
Speaking of diesel fuel, Henry Ford once said we must never, ever become dependant on any foreign country for fuel. He was a smart man.