D2 pony motor starting

Pony motors take a bit of magic to start on some days, 😉 or a very expert mechanic that loves to stop and fine tune any adjustment when his ear thinks it is off just a bit.

With a bit of luck if the mag makes spark and any gas get through the carburetor at all they will run. So without desire to make it perfect, you play with the choke to run well enough to start the big engine. As one neighbor that thought of himself as good mechanic put it. Each pony motor you need the recipe of what it has been liking. Such as 2 pulls of the rope with full choke , and then 1/2 choke with throttle full open. 😉 Or what ever combination has been working for you.

But as they say change is one of the things we all have to look forward to in life. 😇 So you will have to clean the carb and mag someday, or learn magic words I have never found to get it going. The only constant I can think of is SHUT THE GAS OFF. Don't let it trickle into the oil and dilute it. Now those looking for perfection can tell you the correct way.

My experience has been that the health of the carb plays a large part and that if it, and other factors, are all "correct", then the pony can be started with choke at low idle. I did that with mine after refurbishing it. However I also discovered that if the oil level is sufficiently overfull (e.g. from fuel dilution), it's very difficult to get the pony to run, even if every other aspect is correct. So like Ray wrote, you have to find out how your pony starts best. One thing I would add is that since the pony relies only on splash lubrication, I'm always keen to keep the rpm down until it's been running a few seconds so that the oil has had a chance to distribute around the bearing surfaces.
If your pony does not run without choke even when warm, then it's time to give the carb an overhaul

I don’t get to start mine very often. I have found the happy place where it will start and run. All i do is turn the fuel on and turn it off again to stop the motor. If i change the throttle or choke settings it is hard to get it started and anyone close by learns new words they can’t repeat to their children.