On Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:10:50 -0500
"David Courtney" wrote:

snip
Polaris & Ski-Doo (maybe others now) both have "electronic" reverse on
their snowmobiles and possibly ATV's, too.
You can see here that it stops the engine briefly and instantly re-fires
it in reverse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opwQ15uic_g


I first saw this on an old Mercury snowmobile, around the early 70's:

"In 1969 the Model 220 was unveiled, with the 250 debuting shortly
thereafter. Both were based on the 150 cowl style, with the belly pan
thankfully being a separate unit, allowing easier hood removal.
Comparing these to the 150, they look a lot like the 150 on steroids.
Both models were available with electric start (220E, 250E) and reverse
(220ER, 250ER). The reversing mechanism was simple, the driven clutch
was designed to operate in both directions, and the engines had two
separate starters mounted over the toothed flywheel. To put the units
in reverse, one would shut the engine off, flip a toggle switch and
start the motor in reverse! This design was borrowed from their early
"dock banger" outboards, which had no neutral gear but were started in
forward or reverse from the control console."

From not quite halfway down this page:

http://www.mercurysnowmobiles.com/early%20story.htm

I was pretty impressed at the time. My buddy didn't have a clue how it
worked but I pretty much surmised how while watching him shut it off,
flip a switch and start it up again. I recall that it ran "rough" but
it did indeed go backwards...

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
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