On 13 Apr, 17:33, "Mike" wrote:
"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message

. uk...

freepo expressed precisely :
Sorry for the babbling post.

Any thoughts on this in general?

It sounds as if you might be just yanking the cord. What you should be
doing is pulling it gently to the point of compression, taking another
bite and then giving it a firm pull.

ITYM.. pulling it gently OVER the point of compression.

--

Mike

This is correct. I didn't know how to start it before, but now I do
and it is working fine.

I fixed it with a homemade fixed pulley which is now bolted to the top
of the engine. I turn it beyond the compression point, wind my rope
around it and pull.
It's working so well I'm sure it would work equally well with a new
shop bought retractable rope starter clutch & pawls system as was
fitted originally, but I've made my pulley now and I'm in no hurry to
buy a new pullstart for it.

A pity the instruction manual didn't explain how to start the engine
in a way that would not cause damage to the pullstart.