I bought this new "Weed Eater" brand mower about 5 years ago. It's been
fairly reliable, once I got rid of "safety crap", like the grass exhaust
chute cover that caused it to plug up all the time, and the plastic flap
on the rear that got under the blade when I would backup and kill the
mower.

Anyhow, another annoyance is the long starting rope which went up on the
handle and got stuck against objects regularly. Well, a month ago, that
rope finally got stuck for the last time and ripped about 8 inches off,
including the pull grip. So, I reattached the grip on the shorter rope,
so the grip would be right by the engine (like they used to be). But I
left about 6 inches of rope sticking out of the grip. Not long enough to
get under the mower, but a little spare rope.

I cant believe that that extra rope got in between the bottom of the
engine and the deck. Then it got wrapped around the crankshaft, and
suxcked the whole rope under the deck where it was wound tightly around
the shaft. Thus killing the engine and seizing everything.

I cant believe that rope got sucked into that 1/8" (at most) gap under
the engine. And the grip got torn off. (Yes, I will now fill that gap
with some caulk).

Anyhow, I took the whole top off the engine, the part with the rope and
it's spring. Nothing is broke, except the grip, (and I have a spare one
of them from a mower I junked).

However, this part I dont understand. The rope now hangs out of the
mower top, at least 16" more than it used to. And when I pull the rope,
it only comes out about 12", (not enough to start the engine). What
stops the rope from going inside the top, is a ferrle (metal clip) on
the rope. Somehow, it appears that ferrle moved down the rope, yet it's
very tight on the rope. How it slipped is beyond me, and how to get it
off, and move it on the rope, is even more of a mystery.

I'd probably replace the whole rope, but I remember trying to do that
once before, and having the spring unwind and ending up with a huge
mess, which I finally had to take to a mower repair shop.

Anyhow, I will somehow have to remove that ferrle, and put it at the
right spot on the rope. But where is that spot? Can someone please tell
me how far your rope pulls out of your mower (all the way out). I'm
thinking it used to pull out about 28 to 30 inches, just a guess....

Thanks