High guys. I haven't asked any questions in quite a while. The rear starter, on the first 657 scrapers, some people call them the A model now, was it a air starter? I remember standing there listening as the mechanics started the scraper, the crowd would comeback by itself as the starter turned the motor over the motor would not start until the crowd/ejector would hit the back of the scraper/pan. Its been quite a few years for me to remember back that far, can you help me remember. Would you know Nige? Mike Nebergall.
It was an air-over-hydraulic system that used the oil in the scraper ejector circuit to crank the rear engine. The air engaged the bendix gear on the starter motor and the ejector control, the hydraulics spun the starter motor. An over-run clutch disengaged the bendix when the rear engine fired up. The ejector was supposed to be put in the retracted position before attempting to fire up the rear engine.
original Cat 657 Thanks Nige. I can remember, like I'm standing this instant next to 'a 657 hearing the crowd/ejector rolling back hearing the unusual sound the starter hydraulics made, then finally the bang as the crowd hit the back of the scraper disengaging and the rear motor starts and the black smoke rolls out of the stack. Thanks for the image in my head its a cool one. What part of the world you working in now Nige? Have a good one, Mike Nebergall