Good stories, guys
As I mentioned this was a Yanmar L100, and since that time I have noticed that the L100/186F engines, having larger displacement, seem to require a stronger pull to start than the L70/178F engines, especially when attached to a sizable cement mixer.
I've thought about this engine some, and I started to wonder if maybe my Arnold Schwarzenegger-like physique just ain't cutting it any longer
I found this online and what is the first main cause they mention? It says right there in black and white "Will, you're just a weak brother"
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/907108/Yanmar-L40ae.html?page=112#manualSince reading that, I've adjusted my starting procedure somewhat and it goes something like this:
Turn the throttle to max fuel
Turn the flywheel to compression
Wind the starter rope around the starter cup
Depress decomp lever
Grasp starter rope with both hands while leaning slightly forward on my left foot, with my right foot back
Repeat these words in a barely audible voice (in my best Slingblade voice) "I'm here to kill you"
With every fiber of my being and in one fluid motion, I pull with everything I've got, while throwing my entire 135 LB weight back onto my right foot, while thinking to myself that either:
I'm going to rip my own hand off
I'm going to rip the engine off the mixer
I'm going to pull the entire mixer over onto myself and be crushed to death
The rope is going to break
The engine is going to start
Works like a charm
As I used to tell my sons when I was teaching them to hand-start diesels "You have to show it who's the boss"