😮🚜 This 1947 Field Marshall tractor doesn’t need a conventional starter motor—it can literally be fired into life with a 12-bore blank cartridge. A piece of saltpeter-treated paper is first lit and inserted into the cylinder head, where it acts much like a primitive glow plug. The blank cartridge is then loaded into a special breech connected to the engine. When fired, the expanding gases force the huge single piston through its stroke and get the diesel engine turning. Field Marshall also provided a hand-crank starting method, but the cartridge system made starting the massive single-cylinder diesel considerably easier. These tractors became famous for their simple, heavy-duty engineering and unmistakable slow-running engine sound. Nearly 80 years later, seeing one started exactly as intended is still one of the coolest demonstrations of old-school engineering. Would you trust yourself to start a tractor by hitting a firing pin with a hammer? What are your thoughts? 🤔💭 ( M...