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Our new forum friend Drifter, in Borneo, asked a question about starting the Honda 50hp by hand.
Does anyone know the answer from a personal experience? I have the rope and the book says it can be done, but I have been chicken to try.
Also, I assume such starting is in case of a weak battery, but can you do the hand start and run the boat without any battery at all?

The answer to whether you can start a 50HP Honda by hand is yes. Have I done it, no. What I do have on board is this.


Whether you start by hand or jump start the motor, once started, the motor will run until you run out of fuel. If the motor can charge a battery, and the battery is in good shape and hooked up properly, it will be charged.

Good idea to keep a battery suitcase jumper on board. I saw a guy at the ramp recently try to use one of those jumper boxes on a fuel injection motor and it could not turn the motor over. I guess you need a carburetor engine to use a suitcase jumper.
So, two questions now.
Has anyone actually started a Honda 50hp with a rope, and has anyone started with a jumper box? (in each case, no battery connected, so that test would be worst case scenario)

I've done it on the BF40 but just to see if it could be done. Battery was fully charged.

I have a Merc 60hp
I can handstart it. It can be done quite ok. If you want it to do it with more comfort use a long rope so that you can get a good stand down in the cabin.
My experience is: the motor started always the second try, I don't know why.

And yes, as it is EFI you need some. Battery juse. But I guess just to turn the gaz pump it needs very very low amps.

And yes, with a jump starter handy bat kit i can start it... Even with more comfort... I completely disconnected the starter battery and connected with the jump starter. Wrums and on. With the same jump starter with disconnected bat I also started easily my old 3l dieselengine in the Mercedes car. Is to say the diesel engine already was hot

Opi said:

it could not turn the motor over

The jump starter might not have been fully charged?

I have used the charger I displayed to start a neighbors car which had a dead battery.

Years ago, I found that I could rope-start an Evinrude 33 if and only if it had previously been started and warmed up with the electric starter. So what went before is very important.

Good point.

opie wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 3:56 am Our new forum friend Drifter, in Borneo, asked a question about starting the Honda 50hp by hand.
Does anyone know the answer from a personal experience? I have the rope and the book says it can be done, but I have been chicken to try.
Also, I assume such starting is in case of a weak battery, but can you do the hand start and run the boat without any battery at all?

You should not run your motor WITHOUT A BATTERY CONNECTED, unless you verified with the manufacturer that your charging system can tolerate that.

If you're talking about starting one with a discharged battery that just won't turn the engine over, a carburetor engine will start. Fuel injected will depend on how much battery you have left. Just watched a video of a guy pull starting a Suzuki DF90A, but the battery was hot enough to run the fuel pump.

The trick will be, finding somewhere to stand where you can get a good pull (or four, or ten). Of course, there's the matter of how much Conan you can bring to the table too.

That's why I have sails, two batteries, and a place to sleep. If the motor won't start, sail. If there is no wind, take a nap till the wind picks up. I won't be trying to pull start my Etec 60, unless the situation becomes dire.

Because of sage advice from Jimmyt, my question about pull starting without a battery is withdrawn since he cautions that system damage could occur.

Enough stuff happens to our boats already without causing it deliberately.

opie wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 6:14 pm Because of sage advice from Jimmyt, my question about pull starting without a battery is withdrawn since he cautions that system damage could occur.

Enough stuff happens to our boats already without causing it deliberately.

In my part of LA (lower Alabama), starting without a battery can mean either the battery is dead, or the battery is gone. People don't steal batteries as much now as they did when I was in high school (thankfully).

It's a great question regarding a low or mostly dead battery. Stuff happens, and usually at the worst possible time. I'm curious if anyone is rope starting on our boats also.

Jimmyt wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 4:40 pm

opie wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 3:56 am Our new forum friend Drifter, in Borneo, asked a question about starting the Honda 50hp by hand.
Does anyone know the answer from a personal experience? I have the rope and the book says it can be done, but I have been chicken to try.
Also, I assume such starting is in case of a weak battery, but can you do the hand start and run the boat without any battery at all?

You should not run your motor WITHOUT A BATTERY CONNECTED, unless you verified with the manufacturer that your charging system can tolerate that.

If you're talking about starting one with a discharged battery that just won't turn the engine over, a carburetor engine will start. Fuel injected will depend on how much battery you have left. Just watched a video of a guy pull starting a Suzuki DF90A, but the battery was hot enough to run the fuel pump.

The trick will be, finding somewhere to stand where you can get a good pull (or four, or ten). Of course, there's the matter of how much Conan you can bring to the table too.

That's why I have sails, two batteries, and a place to sleep. If the motor won't start, sail. If there is no wind, take a nap till the wind picks up. I won't be trying to pull start my Etec 60, unless the situation becomes dire.

Even if I agree 100% in what you say... I find it a very good idea to test it out. Handstart your cold motor. But not in an emergency situation for the first time, but easy in the home athmosphere.

Example: my OB has a plastic over the flywheel where you have to pout the rope.
You cannot just open the screws with a wrench. You need a nut as the screw is deep sunk, ...

Test out where to stand, how to pull, how often. It is easier as you think. And also: When you notice that it does not work you save to lern it on the hard outside in the water...

Jimmyt wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 4:40 pm You should not run your motor WITHOUT A BATTERY CONNECTED, unless you verified with the manufacturer that your charging system can tolerate that.

Don't run the BF50 without a battery. You will certainly destroy the diodes (an easy, but expensive repair).

Regarding hand starting, I used to need to hand start my old 50 hp Nissan TLDI from time to time. I had a faulty wire between the engine and ignition battery, which interfered with recharging the battery. When that happened, I would remove the cowling and a plastic cover plate, which exposed a wheel with a slot in it, designed to receive a pull start rope with knot. It was too stiff to pull, straight away. However, if I had just a little left in the ignition battery I would have my wife reach down and, on my cue, turn the ignition switch, while at the same time giving the starting rope a strong pull. The real trick was pulling with a sudden jerk, while at the same time avoiding smacking Sandy in the jaw with my elbow, since she needed to lean over to reach the switch, thereby placing her jaw dangerously close to the path of my elbow. We managed to successfully pull this maneuver off several times. Nevertheless, it was a big relief when I finally tracked down the charging problem and replaced the faulty ignition wires.