Crank rope extreemly hard to pull. - Poulan P3314 14" Gas Chain Saw 2.0 Cuin 33CC 2 Cycl

Probable crankcase leak (shaft seals). Not a novice test nor repair.

does pulling the start rope turn the engine over . make sure the tine drive is disconnected
if yes , the motor is not seized but the tines could be
if the motor will not fire ( check spark plug for spark it could be the coil or a short to ground in the ignition on/off switch wire

You say Pull rope mechanism is ok, How do you know that? Ive's seen them get the rope a little off and gets caught being wedged into a small clearance. Is the rope wearing? I bet if you take it apart put a new nylon rope and some wd-40 in rubbing surfaces including the ratchet area it will be good as new. Crank bearing has to get really bad to effect pull. How is the spark?

I suspect you asked this question because your recoil starter rope has broken , so first let me say be extreemly carefull the coiled spring on top of rope pully has a lot of tension to it , it can and will hurt you if it gets out of the pocket it sets in, what ive allways done is to NOT remove the pully at all but hold it with a large C clamp i put this on right after i get about 6 good turns to tighen the spring then i apply clamp , use a razor knife to cut ball off end of old rope and pull out using pliers thread new rope from outside rope guide to into the rope pully and knot if off in original hole (use a lighter to part melt rope end) measure off about 5 feet of rope and tie starter handle on there then its simple just slowly let clamp pressure off the pulley will pull rope in to cover automaticly done !!!

Your engine might be in the process of locking up... Do you also have trouble turning the crank with your hand? It should only be hard to turn in one part other than that you should be able to turn it.

If it worked fine the last time you used it, then pull the spark plug and try pulling the rope. See if it's easier or if gas shoots out of the plug hole. I've seen this happen when the diaphram in the carb goes bad from sitting over winter. It loads up the cylider with fuel and makes it very difficult to pull the rope. If there is no fuel in the cyliner and it's still hard to pull, make sure there is nothing binding the clutch/sprocket. I've had chucks of wook lodged in there that caused it to bind the crank output, which resulted in a hard pull on the rope as well.

Assuming the rope stays on the internal pulley, it is NORMAL for the rope to require great force at points in the cranking cycle (once per revolution of the crankshaft). These are the compression strokes and the force is MANY times the initial pulling force. If the rope returns easily, then the starter assembly is probably normal. It takes a strong arm and fast movement to start the enginess via pull rope. Some units have a compression release to ease this a bit.

Unfortunetly you may have spurned an iternal bearing, depending on the type of tiller, If it is hard to pull something is hanging up, seal or bearing on the "cam" will do that, if the oil pressure was enough, or the bearigs were older and worn.

Sound like you have the typical "frozen" crank bolt. To remove it, it's counter clockwise. What you do to remove it when it's frozen, pull #1 spark plug out, rotate crank so #1 piston is at the bottom of the cylinder. Now take a long piece of rope and stuff it into the spark plug hole as much as you can. Use a screwdriver to keep stuffing rope into cylinder. The rope is now a piston stop. When turning the crank counter clockwise to remove it, you'll feel the crank stop. Now you can crank on the wrench to break the bolt loose. I use a long 1/2" drive breaker bar, long 1/2" extension, and a jack stand to support the extension and with a jack handle over the breaker bar, pull hard and you'll hear a loud pop. At this point the bolt will break loose for you. Don't worry you will not break the crank bolt doing this. After the bolt breaks loose, rotate the crank clockwise again just enough the remove the rope.