LazerMag recoil

[Deep_Sinker]

Well, my first outing yesterday and my brand new LazerMag from last March left me standing on the ice wondering if there were fish below. After I added fresh gas, I pulled the motor over 3 times. The third time the motor popped and then something else popped. Well, the starter rope got stuck with about 2ft of cord left hanging out and it appears a piece of a wire band sprun, jamming the entire recoil. I have no idea how to repair this and after looking around, it seems this is a common theme here with other users. Don't get me wrong, I have used a Strikemaster MagIII for years. Any thoughts? Will Gander take it back?

[McGurk]

I think I have a similar problem with a Mag2000 that resulted in a different result. The new SM Tucumseh 2hp powerheads with the yellow decompression button really seem snappy to me. So much so that I had the plastic recoil cord pulley assembly chip apart at the shaft where the "dogs" catch it due to the horrible kickback when starting it and it starting to fire but not catching. There were also broken off chips floating around the cooling fins also leading to jam-ups.

I had bought it from a pawn shop so there is no warranty, but I went up to DRock and bought the new part (great guys, offered to fix it if I'd wait but I declined). After replacing the part and getting all of the plastic chips out it works fine again, but looking at the shaft inside I can see wear on the parts the dogs grab already (the replaced part). The guys at DRock also said to use the yellow decomp button to shut off the auger instead of the switch to cut down on the horrible kickback on the exact part that I replaced, and that I wasn't the only one complaining of the kickback.

I don't know if this helps or not, but hopefully we can get some more feedback on these augers. Overall I'm happy with the auger, but this is frustrating. I am now in the habit of starting it before each and every trip out to the ice when I'm in the garage and can do something about it. If it is the recoil spring binding I'd take it to GM and get a new one, no excuse for the first trip having this happen. Let us know what you find out!

[Scott26]

Had the same issue. If you have the serial number registered, all you need to go to is a authorised repair place. They should have a new head for you. It might be black in color and have a screw sticking out on the top but it will work.

I was in and out within 20 mins with the new part and 20 mins later I had the new head put on and the screw cut off with no issues since.

If you don't have the serial number registered they can take the serial # from the engine and call it in to see if it's still under warr.

(Adding this....) The reason you need a the whole cover is that the coil is all one piece and it fixed on that cover.

[Deep_Sinker]

Well, I had an excellent experience at Gander. The looked at the unit and they exchanged my auger out for a brand new one! Thanks Gander! I just hope this was a fluke and not a re-occuring issue...only time will tell. Also, I registered this one with Strikemaster, so I should be covered with any future issues.