OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Victa Two Stroke Engines Victa STARTER RECOIL BACK SPIN??

Hi all,
hoping someone can help. My uncle has given me his mower to have a look @. I am trying to start it but when I pull it half length the cord gets violently ripped out of my hands.

Any suggestions?

What brand/model engine does it have?

madhouse74,

That is an easy one to correct. If you have changed the blades the bet is the blade plate is not secure causing kick back.

The reason for this is that the blade plate is like a flywheel and counter balance but I will leave it to grumpy to go into more detail explanation.

madhouse 74, as Bruce said, what you have reported is kickback, which means the engine is sparking before the piston reaches the top of its stroke (as it should) but either the spark is occurring earlier than intended, or the engine has less rotational inertia than intended, so the piston never reaches the top of the stroke - it goes back the way it came instead.
As Bruce has said, the most likely cause of this is that the engine has less inertia than it should have, because the blade plate is not rotating with the crankshaft. If the blade plate is present and firmly attached so it can't slip, your ignition timing has somehow become over-advanced, which can only happen with modern mowers if something is broken. For example, if it has a Briggs & Stratton engine and the flywheel key has sheared, this could well be the outcome.
Please let us know what engine this is and whether the blade plate is loose. If it is not, and you have a Briggs engine with a sheared flywheel key, it is fairly easily and quite cheaply fixed by fitting a new key.

Thank you so much to everyone who replied so quickly, I will have a look tomorrow and let you know on my progress. I never knew it needed the weight to make it spark in time I would have spent ages and never found the problem. Thanks again especially grumpy.

drjbeam,

Note that it is not just the bolt because if you have the washer on incorrectly then it will not hold.

I have seen many people that have put the washer on incorrectly and the plate slips even if the bolt is tight.