I had a similar experience with my snowblower.
I bought a used Ariens that was almost brand new, but sat for a few years. It was tuned up right before the sale, and works great!
First time I went to use it, I ripped the recoil cord out. I found the replacement string on Amazon for $7, finally got around to removing the assembly and restringing it, and the recoil spring (~6' long piece of coiled metal that wants to straighten out) undid itself. Wound it all back up, but then it wouldn't catch where it needed to.
After much YouTube, I figured out that the bend at the tip wasn't correct. I couldn't get it right though, so I started calling places to buy a new assembly for $50. After not finding one locally, I figured I had nothing to lose and bent the spring more. That fixed it, and the snowblower works like new again.
As I was installing it, I realized that the machine has electric start.