Wind Up Starter

midnite rider · Feb 2, 2013

Any of you old timers remember these. Why did they quit making them? They are really a great way to start your mower. I recall them from back in my childhood. Are they easily adaptable to todays pull start engines?

possum · Feb 2, 2013

I would imagine they cost to much and required to much effort to wind up. My dad had one. They were well liked when brand new but not so much when spring came and hard starting from stale gas, flooded engines etc. Not to mention to dangerous when safety regs came along.

midnite rider · Feb 2, 2013

They seem really simple and a lot less effort involved than yanking and pulling. I think they did not generate as much rpm's as a pull rope start. They definately would be less costly than an electrical starter and battery. Must have been a safety issue although I can not see why that would be an issue either.

jekjr · Feb 2, 2013

midnite rider said:
They seem really simple and a lot less effort involved than yanking and pulling. I think they did not generate as much rpm's as a pull rope start. They definately would be less costly than an electrical starter and battery. Must have been a safety issue although I can not see why that would be an issue either.

I remember them. Don't know when they stopped making them but I always thought that they were neat. I remember that folks would hunt them to put on newer mowers but I don't remember what they had to do to change them over. Seems like they interchanged with the regular rope starter.

Rivets · Feb 2, 2013

If you liked them, you never had to replace the starter spring when it broke. It was so hard and dangerous that most mechanics would not do it and replaced the entire starter. The spring was over 1/16" thick and only about two feet long. I know of one mechanic who lost the end of his finger trying to replace one. We were glad to see this starter go in the trash.

midnite rider · Feb 2, 2013

Rivets said:
If you liked them, you never had to replace the starter spring when it broke. It was so hard and dangerous that most mechanics would not do it and replaced the entire starter. The spring was over 1/16" thick and only about two feet long. I know of one mechanic who lost the end of his finger trying to replace one. We were glad to see this starter go in the trash.

So that was the safety issue, but at 1/16" thick they must have been pretty durable.

Rivets · Feb 2, 2013

Actually no, the spring was on the brittle side. Most only lasted two to three years, as they were always under tension.

midnite rider · Feb 2, 2013

Thanks Mr Rivets for your knowledge and experience on them. I never knew about them and was curious. Too bad they could not figure out a way to make them safer and more dependable. Was the flywheel any different on them also as far as the type of metal and would they be adaptable to a modern engine.

Rivets · Feb 2, 2013

My memory is not top notch, but I don't think that the flywheel was made any different, but the start cup was heavier and had thicker notches. Don't think you would be able to adapt them to today's engine because of the shroud setup and size.

midnite rider · Feb 2, 2013

That is good to know. Here is a video with a little more detail of the pulley, start knob, flywheel and shroud. Apparently you could shear off your flywheel fins easily if you engaged the start knob while the engine was running with this early design.

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