1943 Federal 606 truck Inertia Starter

This is how we crank up the inertia starter on my 1943 Federal Model 606 7-1/2 ton 6x6. This truck was originally built for the Army Air Corps during World War Two as a C2 wrecker, but the wrecker equipment has since been removed. It is powered by a Hercules 855 ci HXD 6 cylinder gasoline engine developing about 200 hp and over 600 foot lbs of torque at 900 rpm. The engine is also equipped with a normal electric starter. The inertia starter is an Eclipse Aviation Engine Starter and was original equipment on the truck. Eclipse was part of Bendix. The Army Air Force considered this truck an emergency vehicle and needed it to be capable of being started when the battery was dead and no other vehicles were around.