ORIGINAL: ncgrunt
Pull starts rob 10% of your engines hp and also robs rpms. Plus if your lazy not havin to pull a pull start is nice.
I seriously doubt that. There's no reason for a properly made and lubricated one-way bearing to pull 10% of the power. Sure you'll lose a *little* bit, but I would be surprised if it were more than 2-3%, if that much.
I'll take pull start anyday... Less junk to haul around, more reliable starting IMO, and easier. The only time my engine takes more than 3 pulls to start is if it's extremely cold.
Thats what the mags that dyno test say... 10%.... Of course I have no way to verify this but the loss on the top-side of the RPM band is slightly noticeable. The drag force is exponential and rises with the RPM...
I have lots of engines and seemingly start all of them differently [&:] I won't argue about less to haul around but keep using pullstarters for a year and then come back and talk about reliability; they all break over time. On the other hand I start my Savage with the roto-start and the 6cell battery lasts like 2 months or more, it's insane. My roto-start has never broken nor am I enough of a noob to tear up a one-way bearing with it. I start my GT with an airplane starter with a rubber donut adapter. Just bump the flywheel through the chassis like a starter box. At 24.99 for the hand starter and donut, it's nearly as cheap as a pullstarter and it will outlast your truck. Again, on the other hand, I have gone through LOTS of pullstarters. Even if you don't pull more than 9 inches or so out, it is still going to break before the other options.... and it WILL break....
I hear good things about the Sullivan Tiger Drive also, and those guys make a backplate for damn near every engine...