By far the simplest Snowblower Maintenance-Recoil-Rope and is rarely mentioned but can cause great frustration when it brakes is the starter recoil rope.

By far the simplest Snowblower Maintenance-Recoil-Rope is rarely mentioned but can cause great frustration when it brakes is the starter recoil rope. This recoil rope is what you pull on each time you want to start your blower and you are not equipped with an electric start option or near an electrical outlet for the electrical start.

All you need to do is to slowly pull on the plastic recoil rope handle out about 6” and stop. Inspect the first 2-3” for any frays or thinning out of the rope. If you notice a problem then the fix is quite simple to perform.

You will need a pair of needle nosed vise grips and a sharp knife. First pull the recoil rope out approximately 2 feet. While holding the rope out squeeze the vise grips onto the rope where the rope comes out of the recoil housing. This will stop the rope from returning back into the starter as it is spring loaded.

This should give you plenty of slack rope to use. Depending on how tight the knot in the end handle is you may need to pry the knot out with a small flat head screwdriver or the knife (be careful).

Once the knot has been exposed then slide the plastic handle down the rope to the vise grips and let it hang there.Pull the rope tight and with the sharp knife cut the rope off 1-2” below the frayed or damaged rope. Next make a couple of double knots closely together at the end of the rope and pull them tight.

Make sure that the knots are larger than the hole on the plastic handle otherwise the rope will pass right through the handle and will slip all the way back into the recoil starter.

Now pull the handle all the way back to the end of the rope making sure that the new knots fit into the center guide of the recoil rope starter handle.

Once you are sure that the knots will hold then release the vise grips and the starter rope will recoil back into the housing and you are ready to start the blower without the fear of the rope breaking unexpectedly.

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