Lawnmower: Engine brake spring (ed.)

[ipbr21054]

Cut a long story short ive removed the brake bar from my Champion SP484
Ive now got what looks like a metal throttle lever on the downward handle bar.

The brake spring is quite heavy so im thinking of replacing it with something thats a bit lighter.

So i understand that the plate which has this spring on also has a cut out switch which kills the spark etc.
So the purpose of this heavy brake spring is to GRAB the flywheel & pretty much stop the engine rotating within a very short time.
Is that correct ??

Im just thinking of the tension i need so the metal throttle lever can operate without feeling like its pulling a bag of cement

 

[Burnerman]

That is correct, there should be a length of brake lining material which stops the flywheel from spinning - and the mechanism operates a kill switch too.
With my machines I tie up the dead mans handle so the engine keeps running, but I agree this isn’t satisfactory for everyone.
John

 

[ipbr21054]

Thanks.
I’ve now fitted a medium duty spring so will see how this goes.