Before the invention of the recoil starter , a notched pulley was attached to the engine 's flywheel ; the operator would manually wind a rope around the pulley then jerk the rope to rotate the engine .
Engine would start .
Before the invention of the recoil starter , a notched pulley was attached to the engine 's flywheel ; the operator would manually wind a rope around the pulley then jerk the rope to rotate the engine so that it would start .