Patent ID: 7381009

Claim:
A starter module for an engine for a walk behind trowel, the walk behind trowel having a rotor including a rotatable shaft and plurality of concrete-finishing blades that rotate with the shaft, the shaft being driven by an engine the engine having a throttle to command an operating state of the trowell, and a clutch operable to selectively couple an output of the engine to the rotor, the starter module comprising: a sensor operable to provide a signal representative of the operating state of the trowel upon engine start-up; and an electronic controller that receives the signal representative of the operating state of the trowel from the sensor and that is responsive to the signal to prevent the clutch from engaging if the detected operating state is outside of a designated range during engine start-up, thereby preventing torque transfer to the rotor and which thereafter cannot prevent the clutch from engaging in response to signals from the sensor, thereby permitting torque transfer to the rotor.