I had an interesting experience this morning. I'll share it for the good of the order.

First, you must know that the neutral cam in my TT is bent and consequently does not disengage the clutch when the emergency brake lever is pulled back. I've never bothered to fix it because it has a Muncie, which provides a true neutral. Also, being a good ol' T guy, I always set everything for starting (throttle at 1/3, spark retarded, transmission in neutral) when I shut it down.

So, when I went to start it this morning I checked the water, oil, gas, throttle, spark and shift lever. Everything looked good to go. Then my eye caught the fact that one of the Muncie fork slides was sticking out (thanks to a crappie old floorboard), meaning it was in gear in spite of the fact that the lever appeared to be in the neutral position. I quickly realized that someone, probably a little neighbor kid who plays with my grandson, had played with the shifter and gotten it stuck in gear. (The kids are not allowed to play in the garage, but stuff happens!) I removed the 3 screws, got the shifter back in position, put it back together and cranked her up.

Moral of the story - check everything and pay attention! The ol' TT usually starts on the first pull. If I had not noticed the problem I'd probably be in the hospital (or worse) right now. Oh yeah, and I'm gonna fix that cam ASAP!

Good catch. Your right,It could had ended very bad.

It takes a lot to move a T in high gear with the crank. You would have noticed it right away, and probably wouldn't have been able to turn it fast enought to start it anyway. I've done that many times, as I park mine with the lever forward. I always check the spark, but have been known to forget to pull the lever back. I've never come close to starting it, as it is readily apparant within the first inch or so of crank movement.

Hal,

Generally, you're right. However, my Muncie was stuck in 1st gear. Even with the planetary in high, that Muncie 1st and the low ratio TT rear end is pretty low, I believe lower than a regualr stock T low. Sometime I think I'll play around with it little (swith off) and see how hard it is to turn over in 1st/high.

Actually, I've ever only done it when the engine was cold, so therefore, I caught it when I was trying to prime the engine. Mine only has the stock tranny, but when I went up front to turn the crank to prime, it was READILY apparent that I had left the lever forward. Makes you feel kinda stupid.

Henry,
Please, if you try that (as I probably would if I were in your shoes), disconnect the battery first (If you have a battery). We don't need some other little oddity causing it to fire with the key off. For magneto, you're on your own. One thing I like about auxiliary transmissions is the true neutral to keep them from running off when started. (On another thread I mentioned the ignition switch that fell apart and fired on me with the key turned to off.)
By the way, good catch!
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2