The motor sometimes starts right away and at other times I have to use a wood stick to spin the blade and it starts

by stalling do you mean that the blade stops spinning or the motor stops turning
if the blade stops spinning then the mounting bolt for the blade is not tight enough
if the motor stops spinning , junk it and get a new unit

Lots of saws have left hand threads on the nut that holds the blade in place. It is designed so that if the saw starts up and the nut isn't snug, the nut and the blade slipping on the turning arbor would tend to tighten the nut as they slip against the force of the spinning arbor.
1. Unplug the saw.
2. Hold on to the blade tightly with one hand.
3. Put the wrench on the arbor nut and turn it in the direction you would turn it as if the wrench were turning the blade to cut wood.

If you've previously overtightened the blade, jamb a piece of wood against the teeth and the saw table top and then follow step 3.

If the motor is on the left side of the blade as you face the saw, then it's a standard right hand nut.
If the motor is on the right side of the blade as you face the saw, then its a left handed nut.

It may be that the motor is under powered for the load, but more likely it sounds like the motor is defective. Perhaps some of the windings have shorted. That might allow the blade to spin, but stop under any load. What brand and model is this saw?

Try the blade first. It should be tight and have no real wobble to it. Although my first guess would be the brushes, These are generally accessible from the outside. There is often a number or something to identify the brush so that you can get a proper replacement pair. If the motor starts right away and the blade does not then the blade is loose. re- reading your post it could well be the blade. Often these are reverse threaded, so you tun them clockwise to get it off. You may well want a new blade anyway, and there are different types for different jobs. Watch your fingers and unplug the saw when messing with the blade- it is easy to hit the switch when undoing the blade.

the centrifugal clutch on the saw has probably most failed or is right out of adjustment. best to look that this is engaging properly first

Use wood stick or broom handle and see if blades rotate freely.
If blades are stuck, then use wood stick to wedge free the blades.

If blades rotate freely and disposal doesn't work, then disposal has gone bad.
Install new one.

For replacement instructions:
http://www.fixya.com/support/r7929008-replace_garbage_disposal

Turn power off to unit first. Then Try going up on roof, and with a stick or similar, through vent slots, spin fan blade a few times, and then try to start again. Seen quite a few stuck in dead spot at motor, and this will sometimes get it off the dead spot if fan(motor) hasn't been run in a while. If it has been running, and just recently started doing this, Capacitor is probably gone but need to be careful working with it, so get back to me if spinning fan blade didn't do it. Would be helpful to have model and make of unit.

let the unit cool down
with power on try sticking something in there to spin the fan blade
if it spins and continues to work it is a bad capacitor (little shiny metal can sometimes oval or round)
if it doesnt spin i would have to guess the motor is bad
hope this helps

It sounds like the blade is not going through the guides properly if the blade is being pushed away from the wood.

Your blade is facing and moving the right direction, I am assuming.

Many of the old saws don't have an arbor lock. If yours does, it would appear as a button or lever on the motor housing, sometimes underneath, sometimes between the blade and the motor/handle assembly. If you have such a lock, use it. It keeps the blade from spinning.
If not:
First off, unplug the saw.
Then look on the inboard side of the blade and see if the collet washer or arbor has facets for a wrench to grab it. Some older saws had these. If so, you can use one wrench to hold the arbor from turning and another to break the blade nut loose.
If not, lock the blade in the down position or hold it down against the base, and carefully jam a block of soft wood (like a hunk of 1 x 4 ) between the teeth of the blade and the table. You ought to be able to exert enough pressure to hold the blade from turning while you loosen the nut. (You''ll have to have the wood in the right position either fore/aft of the blade to keep it from turning). Once it's loose, you can hold it by hand and spin the nut off.
Reverse process to tighten.


I hope this information allows you to resolve this issue. If you need further assistance, please post back with a comment to this thread.
If I've managed to answer your question or solve a problem, please take a moment to kindly rate this post....thanks!