Merry Tiller help...

your stringy thingy (recoil start) is part of the engine housing (if a briggs engine).
Its held on by four (sometimes three) 10mm headed bolts (or the imperial size 9/16) take it of, and buy a new recoil rope. Dont remove the recoil pulley, as there is a spring behind it that is under tension. put a knot in one end of the string. remove all of the old string from the pulley. pre tension the recoil pulley by winding it in the same direction it goes when you pull the rope out to start it ( about 4 to five turns) line up the hole that the string goes through on the pulley, with the one the rope goes through in the side of the housing, and push the unknotted end through the pulley and out of the housing. fit the recoil handle, and let trhe pulley wind itself back slowly.
refit and go dig the allotment. the skid is lowered into the soil to dig deeper.
enjoy.

all these jobs should have been done in the winter,oil change,filter change or washed out with petrol,all moving parts greased and lubed up,discard last years fuel and replace with new,chech your pull cord for damage  :roll:  

all these jobs should have been done in the winter,oil change,filter change or washed out with petrol,all moving parts greased and lubed up,discard last years fuel and replace with new,chech your pull cord for damage  :roll:  

yeah err yeah.. I did err none of those things.. only just worked out how to top up the petrol.. filter you say? like a coffee filter? Seriously I have no idea about stuff like this, I am an IT manager, so what do I know