Harbor Freight Chainsaw Electric Start Mark III

Whelp, the second iteration of my electric drill-start adapter for the Harbor Freight born Poulan PR4218 didn't really hold up. And by "didn't hold up," I mean virtually every interface in the load path has failed to one degree or another. Which doesn't really make sense to me, because I feel like I put a whole heck of a lot more force into it through the starter rope with my shoulder than I ever do with my drill backed up with only my wrist. I've gradually replaced every bit of plastic in the system, but at this point I'm breaking welds and shearing cog teeth.

So, it's time to give up on my dream of using the built-in ratcheting mechanism to power-start this saw. I'm binning every part of the old pull-start system and making an adapter that simply hard-bolts to the flywheel with two long M8 screws and presents a nice, big 3/4" hex that I can drive with the drill.

The downside of this is that once the motor starts it takes off on its own, while still coupled to the drill in my hand. I can live with this in the short term by just staying on the trigger and quickly pulling clear with the socket, but long term I will have to devise some kind of one-way coupling that can live on the drill itself.

All that being said, this was a pretty straight-forward build, and it went well. Assuming it holds up better than its predecessors, I remain a big fan of the drill-start method. With a more reliable saw I'm sure pull-starting is just no big deal, but with a temperamental engine it can really suck the fun out of making sawdust, and we can't have that. Because if it isn't fun, what's the point?