Generally, when they do that, the recoil assembly gets trashed. Easiest way to tell is to take the recoil off and see how it works sans blower. Seems like every recoil start engine I ever had either jammed when pulled or the rope would break and I'd damn near throw a shoulder out of joint. Some of the newer ones have, beside the recoil, an optional electric starter. They have them in both 110v and 12 volt units.