Sound like flywheel key timing advanced will make pulling of cord tight if not still ignition problem.

I'll take a look at it..

Before you take the flywheel off try pulling it over with the switch off, if it's easy then it would be the key. Steve

If it still pulls hard after doing what ladylake said, the engine is flooded. Over choked or leaking carb.

wildride, is this a saw new to you, or have youhad it and used it successfully recently?

Some have Compression Release on them, does yours?

Yes, this is a new saw for me. I don't see a compression switch or a button on it. I will try the items listed this weekend and let everyone know how it turns out. Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it!

OK, I tried pulling the plug, turned it upside down, switch off, got a little fuel out but not alot, plug back in..still hard. With switch on or off, its still very hard to pull. I pulled the carb off, cleaned and re-installed..no noticeable difference. Any thoughts now???

Scored cylinder, bad bearings, does the saw run? Whats the compression? Steve

I would remove the spark plug and see how easy it cranks over by pulling the rope. If it's still hard I would remove the recoil rope assembly and see it the crank/piston if free by rotating the flywheel with no plug installed. Now that you eliminated some of the outside potential problems by inspecting and pull the rope with the assemble off the saw and it's still tight then I would look inside.

What model is it?

Stihl 250. I have had the rope assy off, I don't see anything out of the ordinary..run, as far as I know..it did some time ago. I have had the muffler off, and carb...can see the piston moving up and down. With plug out only, pull string with finger over plug hole...seemed like compression is good. there is no compression button, so I thought there may be something I have overlooked. Could this still be the timing key? Suggestions now??

Pour out all of the fuel and take the plug out, and pull the
rope a bunch, let it sit a while, let it dry out. Then
reinstall the plug but do not attach the plug wire, now try it. If it is still hard to pull, with no fuel in it and dry
then you may have a large buildup of carbon that is
raising the compression ratio, but I am betting NevadaWalrus is correct about the flooding.

Fish

Howdy, if the plug is wrong and has too much reach, the effictive Comp Ratio will be high. XS pull effort.

Did you check the keyway??

Stihl vatos, does the 250 have a varibale timing module, and is the initial timing not affected by such a device?

This is sort of "the nature of the beast" on the older 025s and the 250s after carbon has been built up by a too rich fuel mixture or a defective needle valve. Remove the air cleaner and reinstall the screws so the carb will be secure. Start the saw and let it warm up and then spray SEA FOAM DEEP CREEP into the carb throat until it kills the saw. Remove the spark plug and spray a liberal amount into the spark plug hole. Let it set over night and then use fuel-oil mix to wash out the deep creep. Crank it a few times with the spark plug removed and then reinstall the plug and start it. Other than a disassembly to remove the excess carbon this is probably the best approach to make it a little easier to start. Deep Creep is available at auto parts stores and marine dealers. Good Luck...Ray

Wildride

Did you ever figure this out. I'm having the same problem and am dying to figure this out.

i'm having the same problem with my chainsaw and this is the second time i ran into this problem with a different saw, i never could fix them so im going to try this today!