Clutch When I pull the cord to start it skips and then there is slack but never enough to start the weedeater. There is a full cord the cluch grabs then lets go.

More information please. What EXACTLY is it doing? Slack clutch lever? Stuck clutch lever? Crunching or grinding as you try to shift? Grabbing and stalling as it selects the gear?
Start at the clutch lever. Check it is pulling the cable then check at the transmission end that the cable is connected and moving with the lever. Next check the lever on the actual transmission. Does it seem too tight or too slack? These will give clues as to where the issue could be.
It's a 37 year old bike so is it the original Clutch? Even motorcycle clutches wear out.

Hi the cable needs slack if you take all the adjust out meaning the is no free play in the cable your taking the pressure off of the clutch plates causing it to not be engauged.

you may be able to readjust the clutch depending on the type of mower their are control rods that will readjust

More than likely you need a new clutch cable. When you pull the lever and let it out the cable is probably binding just enough to keep the clutch from fully engaging. Thus the clutch slips till the cable fully extends, then the clutch grabs. To test this unhook both ends of the clutch cable and grab one end with your fingers. It should move freely with no resistance. If it is slow or sticky replace it. Even just a kink in the cable close to the housing or rust inside the housing will cause the clutch to not fully engage. The average Honda clutch is typically good for more than 60,000 miles under normal driving conditions. If you drive the bike hard or have been slipping the clutch for a while and notice a burnt smell in the oil, then you may need new clutch plates. Check the cable first, it is a lot easier to deal with.

To properly adjust the clutch, you must adjust not only the cable but the clutch as well.

Follow the cable down to the front down tubes of the frame. There you should see a rubber bellows. Slide the bellows up or down to allow you to get to the adjustment. Loosen the lock nut and adjust the cable as short as possible.

Now, remove the derby cover from your primary. In the center of the clutch assembly you'll see a screw that takes a hex key or allen wrench. Loosen the lock nut. Turn the screw inwards until it meets a resistance. Do this several times if necessary to get the feel of what you're doing. You want to go to you just feel resistance, not far enough to start releasing the clutch. Once you feel the resistance, back the screw out 1/2 to 1 full turn. Lock the locknut down and replace the derby cover.

At the cable, adjust the cable back out until you get about 1/8" (3mm) freeplay at the lever. I usually just set the freeplay at the adjuster. If you'll grab the upper part of the cable and pull, it will come out of the adjuster. Set this distance to 1/8". When finished, if you just take the slack out of the cable with the lever, don't pull it, just take the slack out, you'll have about the thickness of a nickle between the lever and the lever mount.

Good Luck, Steve

The cluch not fully disingaging , ( carpet under the pedel, pedel bent , bushing worn out of pedal, low on fluild in clutch master ( brake fluid ) and bad cluch master or slave or air in system. A damaged clutch will drag too. If it shifts OK with the car shut off standing still trans lube is likly OK too. If it has a clutch cable it may need to be adjusted pull up on the clutch pedal as high as it can go then pust down with your hand it should only go down an inch before it gets harder to pust down as it openes the clutch and shoul continue to go down about 4 or more inches. The pedal should be as high or a little higher than the break paedal. If not the pedal height may be needing to be adjusted higher. Some slave master hydrolic sysems aren't adjusted and have to be replaced to fix lack of enought movement Clutes that are hard to pust in or get much harder as you get closer to the floor the cluch is likly to be worn out and need to be changed with a new clutch kit and resurface the flywheel. The flywheel can change to unflatand the cluch can drag. engine oil getting into the clutch though a leak in the valve cover or rear main can get on the cluch and make it drag and grab.

the easy way to find out if the cluch is slipping is to ride the bike in top gear pull in the cluch rev the bike up to high revs and drop the cluch if the engine dont drop in revs very fast and the revs only drop slowly its slipping if this happens check that you have a small amount of slack in the cluck cabel ie: 1/4 of an inch is ok if its to tight it will cause the cluch to slip as the engine warms up

there is another t20 screw in the neck of the drum. once removed you will expose the drive clutch. soak it good with WD40 then unscrew it from the shaft. if you have all the housing screws out, you should be able to simply remove the housing to expose the pull cord assembly, screwed to housing.

It seems you do not have enough spring tension. Remove the starter housing and grab the slack rope and wind the pulley two or three times in the tension direction until the slack gets pulled into the pulley by the spring. Hope this helps. Donnyb60