The impulse starters were very good for theee eolder community. The laver could be worked back and forth likea ratchet lever and tripped by people who could not pull a rope starter. BEWARE of the earlier types were you folded over the handle and pressed it down. If the pawls slipped the handle would fly back with such force the knob would strike the back of you hand and actually break the knob and its mounting clean off the handle.The tension needs to be set on the pawl drum on the trip type starters or the pawls will fly out at speed and smash pieces out of the drum . The idea of the pawl tension is to let the pawls work out relativly slowly and engage with the drum before the real pressure is applied form the wound up spring. This then sets the engine turning . All this of course happens in millisecs. Remember incorrect tension means smashed drums.
Another big advantage of this type of starteris the better spark generated due to speed and sucking in of fuel also which does not happen if the engine is pulled over slowly Joe
