Bolen MTD lawn mower w Briggs Statton 500e broke plastic pull starter. Designed fail, or great idea?

Winding the spring in a pull starter is a pain. The 500 series plastic, pull starter assembly just clips into place, and you get new rope, spring and all other wear-out parts. Retail price around $30, makes pull starter replacement a do-it-yourself job, even for a novice.

Good for some, but I prefer a mower NOT breaking in first place. The old, mostly metal pull starters last well over ten years, provided you don't overuse it. Hard starting is usually caused by user error, running old fuel. Gas is good for couple months, but the fresher, the better. No more than a month, is best.

The familiar Briggs and Stratton motor I first grew to trust in childhood, first engine I ever worked on. I found one on a trash pile, and got it running. Never paid full price for a mower in my life until my first good job. Until then I relied on swap meet finds of $5 or $10, to tackle Florida's year round growing season. In the summer, kids made good money cutting lawns. Had a few Tecumseh, not as good.

This one came from Home Depot in 1992. Replaced it with a trash pile find, that I planned to take the mowing deck from. The patches were getting too sketchy. The MTD mower I found was in new condition, just thrown out. It ran so good I decided to just use it and keep the old, identical, running 3.5 hp motor for parts.

But the deck is very flimsy, no adjustments, so I kept my eye out for a better one with adjustable cutting height. I got lucky and found a Bolens, also in almost new condition with the all new Briggs and Stratton 500e. Could not wait to check it out. Here's what happened.
See my other videos for details.
WARNING! This video is for informational purposes only! Any modification to a lawnmower can result in engine failure, and/or personal injury.
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

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