Request assistance w/ recoil starter

[Crooked Dave]

I have a Strikemaster power auger that late last season, I broke the cord on the recoil starter. Being fairly handy, I purchased some nylon cord (same diameter) and fixed it myself. It worked fine the rest of the season, however, when I did this, I didn't coil the spring tight enough to get a full pull when starting. So here is my problem: I pulled the recoil starter apart hoping to get a little longer pull, and the spring popped out and came completely unraveled. I am having a bear of a time getting the spring back in place under tension. Any suggestions short of taking it to a shop....which I plan to do if not tomorrow, Monday? Thanks in advance and Tight Lines.

[The Bullhead]

Tricky eh!?

Find a good spacious older wooden workbench. Pound a small finish nail into the bench leaving approx 1/4" (width of your coil spring) protruding out of the bench. Take your coil spring, and hook the inner end on this small finish nail and begin coiling the spring in it's natural direction - gradually pulling the coil tighter as you go.

This should allow you to "reload" the spring. Watch your inner diameter - being careful to leave enough room to slide the spring over the assembly post in the recoil case.

Once you have it reloaded, very carefully transfer the spring into it's housing, hooking the ends inside the proper terminals. I can usually get this done with a steady hand. If you are having trouble - try using 4 very small zipstrips to hold your coil in place as you drop it into it's housing. (The zipstrips would have to be arranged evenly around the finish nail - prior to loading). Doesnt hurt to have an extra set of hands around either.

Good luck.

[helper]

The spring compresses at pull, you do not need to preload it so put it in, you do not need to remove or adjust the spring, just make sure the tabs catch the gear, adjust so the handle goes all they way back up. wrap it, assemble it, then adjust length after.

[gofishwalleye]

One more tip: Make sure to use enough rope to fill the spool. If you skimp or shorten the length you'll rip the cord right out of the recoil assy. Especially if you let the gorrilla operate the auger.

[Crooked Dave]

Mission accomplished. It took four hands, and about 30 minutes, but finally got it all back together and working properly. Now, we just need some ice. Tight Lines.