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As far as I know, there's three primary reasons IH developed the gas switchover design back in the day as a method to start the old diesels: 1. Batteries and electrical starting systems were relatively weak back then (including the hand starters Bob speaks of). 2. Diesels have much higher compression ratios than normal gas engines and are therefore much harder to turn over. 3. In the cold, diesels can be much more difficult to start, especially when compounded with cold batteries and mollasses like oil. The gas starting method made a diesel as easy to start as a regular gasoline engine. Plus, once you warmed it up for a minute or two, the coolant, oil and combustion chambers are preheated so just flip the switch and you're going on diesel. A pretty good system compared to the pony start stuff of that time in my opinion. Although some sing the praises of pony starts too because apparently they can greatly reduce the wear that occurs on big diesels during cold starts (with zero oil pressure). Go to the redpower site referenced below to see a bunch of guys running these machines. Someone will post a pic pronto for you, and set your friends straight too if need be.
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