Strikemaster Auger Recoil Help

[Lammboy]

Hi everyone,

I have an older Strikemaster Mag 8.25' chipper auger. Yesterday while on the ice we were drilling some holes and she was working great. I shut it off and later on decided to drill a few more holes. Well when I went to start it up I pulled the cord and it made a grinding sound and the cord now doesn't retract back into the auger. I used a small scredriver to rewind it but after another pull it makes a grinding noise and so I stopped.

Has anyone had this happen to them and is it just a recoil replacement? If so is it that hard to do? I checked out a few other posts and some videos I saw on youtube but wasn't sure if this would be a simple job to do.

Thanks!

[PierBridge]

Some of the earlier Strikemaster augers had this problem. I do believe they have upgraded the the recoil system to solve the problem.

Had a friend that went through this tryng to fix it on his own he ended up bringing it to Strikemaster in Big Lake and they fixed it for nothing.

[eyebjim]

Have you brought it inside to warm it up. If it got some moist snow from the weekend in it and then got cold it could be frozen and the dogs could be partially out causing the grinding sound and the lack of pulling the rope back in could also be from freezing.

[Lammboy]

I have not brought it inside from my garage. I will try that. If the dogs were out would thawing them out bring them back in?

[eyebjim]

I have had them sick in so they do not contact the flywheel but if they were partially I could see them making some noise but not engaging. It's worth a shot.

[Cbreeze]

I've fixed mine several times over the past 20 yrs just by popping the top off and rewinding it a bit after it warms up inside. My buddy went to Strikemaster and picked up a new recoil for cheap $$ and redid his last year. Strikemaster is great on this stuff.

Breeze

[Surface Tension]

Take the recoil assembly off and bring it in your house.

Let it warm up, use penetrating oil and flush it out. As you go keep working the recoil. What happens there is that over the years dirt gets stuck to the oil and grease in the recoil and becomes gummed up. Better? Put it out in the cold and see how it works.

If it retracts some but not all the way you'll have to increase the preload on the spring. Pull some rope out. Push some rope to make a big loop inside the spool. Put the rope in the notch of the spool, leave it the and turn against the spring.

If there is no spring tension at all then you broke the stud that hold the spring in place. I fixed those with a screw in place of that stud. You'll have to take the spool off do to this. That is possible to do and leave the spring in place. If you do it wrong the spring will come out. IF your not comfortable continuing bring it in and have it done.

[McGurk]

Is the grinding from the dogs not grabbing the pulley shaft, or possibly from debris rolling around the cooling fins? If it's debris, warming it up won't help, and may be indicative of a larger problem. Look closely through the grill of the frame to see if the pulley shaft is damaged and there are pieces missing (your rattling debris). I pulled as much as I could out with a wire and some needle nose pliers before taking anything apart. With the auger warm, slowly try the recoil again WITH THE SWITCH OFF and see if the rope goes back in. If all seems right, try some silicone spray on the dogs, but now any dust from summer will collect on there, possibly creating this problem again.

*IF* you happen to take it apart, be very careful when doing so. Removing the part of the frame that holds the recoil from the powerhead isn't too tough itself (careful with the carb nuts!), and I recommend removing the top of the frame while the auger shaft is pointing up so anything that might be rattling around will go out instead of in. Leave the bolt that holds the recoil spring to the frame in unless you absolutely need to take the recoil apart. Closely inspect the plastic shaft on the recoil pulley to see if it is chewed up or even stripped, resulting in the dogs having little to nothing to grab. You will know exactly what I mean when you get there if you have a problem, and you can usually see it without taking anything apart.

The above advice is very good for fixing a loose rope if the pulley shaft is in good shape. But, if it is chewed up and the dogs have nothing to grab, I'd HIGHLY recommend stopping now and taking it to either Big Lake or DRock in New Brighton. There, they can sell you a new (and possibly upgraded) recoil pulley and spring assembly and even install it for you, sometimes while you wait.

For the early powerheads with the yellow decompression button, there is a beefed-up recoil assembly with larger dogs, a modified pulley, and stronger frame. My auger had the higher compression piston and rings, but the same wimpy recoil assembly that broke twice. I've replaced mine with the upgaded one on my own, but I don't like messing with live recoil springs if I can avoid it. If I do, I wear leather gloves and eye protection.

[Lammboy]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I brought my auger inside the house and let it get warmed up. Still the same problem. I called up Strikemaster and D'Rock. I will be taking it up to Big Lake tomorrow to have them look at it. Can't get off of work in time to get to D'Rock and they aren't open on Thursday and Strikemaster is until noon. Hopefully will be back on the ice this weekend.

[FamilyTradition]

I have the exact same problem with mine. I'm stopping by D-Rock in the morning to get the parts to rebuild the recoil, just incase I need them. I haven't taken it apart yet.

Does anyone know where I can find a diagram of the recoil assembly online?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.