Hmmm... that may be the case of WICO magnetos but I have a Fairbanks & Morse magneto that I operated at least 150 hours of run time without that magneto snapping EVER. In fact, with the magneto off, I can freely hand spin the shaft with no resistance yet it continued to run and hand-crank for a year and a half (cranking with normally two pulls). I set the timing when the unit did snap but once that stopped, the unit hand-cranked just like it always had with no further adjustment. Later, I removed this non-snapping magneto to inspect further and reset the timing by aligning the marks and it cranked just as before.
I did seek out a replacement magneto (WICO) and the old non-snapping Fairbanks & Morse has been sitting on my workbench untouched. I know that others have said these units cannot crank without the snap of the magneto but I have an example of one F&M that operates fine without the impulse. I have read here before on numerous occasions that these cannot operate without snapping AND I am NOT trying to argue but I do not totally agree that the machines cannot start without a snapping magneto... at least that is not the case with my Fairbanks & Morse. No arguments from me... just saying that my experience has been different!
