An excerpt from one of the letters Peter’s wrote to his mother in the 70’s:
An Australian Rope Trick
Car batteries have the habit of giving up suddenly and in the most awkward places. In theory we all know what to do about it. You simply jack up the car and spin a wheel.
In practice matters are not so straightforward. A tyre is hard to grip and awkwardly placed for gripping. If the engine fires backwards the would-be starter is likely to be thrown heavily and dirtily on the ground. If the engine fires forward he could be pulled into the fender and hurt. This is especially true if some device like a wheelbrace has been used to spin the wheel. It can be thrown most unpleasantly, or do a lot of damage as it spins.
There is a solution. Wind a rope around the tyre. Start at the top. After the first turn the rope is passed over its own end to lock it. One and a half further turns are made and the rope is brought out from the wheel to behind the car. It is then tied to some convenient object like a hammer which serves as a handle.
From there all is simplicity itself. A priming run is made with ignition off. The rope is reset. Choke is set to best position. Ignition is turned on. Operator leans back on the rope. Engine springs to life with anti-climactic enthusiasm. Gear is shifted to neutral and the car let down.
Unless compression is very low or the rope-puller very heavy, top gear will be used. An exception is a range-rover. Here the additional diff magnifies the speed of a lone spun wheel. Second or third gear will be best. But whatever the details, the whole process will be found unexpectedly easy. If grandfather had thought of the idea he would have thrown away his thumb-breaking crank handle. Next time your battery fails, consider whether it mightn’t be easier to do the rope trick than hunt up a friend for a tow start.
No bright thoughts can be offered, I fear, for owners of automatics. In the bush these need two batteries and a triplicated certificate of starter motor health. If relief from changing gears is worth that much to you, good luck!
Peter Fannin 