Recoil isssues

Hi folks, Im new to the forum and was hoping somebody could point me in the right direction. I picked up an old John deere r70 in the fall. I have a small 1/2 acre lot and hate cutting lawn so I figured it be perfect. I worked alright when I got it but it smoked pretty bad when it got hot, so I gave it a full rebuild. Started fine a couple times, but then the recoil broke. The past owner somewhere along the way changed the old style of recoil from the ball style to the plastic pawl style. It is an 8 hp briggs and stratton. I replaced the assembly, and it worked fine for another 5 or 6 cuts now it has broken again. My question is, can I upgrade the recoil assembly from the plastic pawl to a metal pawl from another manufacturer? I see honda has metal pawls and a metal friction plate. Has anyone done this? Or know where I can source the parts? thanks Mark.

Need the engine Model number.

Model 190702. thx

Yes you can but finding one that will bolt onto the blower housing will be a problem.
If the pawls keep breaking then there is most likely a problem with the engine , most likely either the decompression is not working or the timing key is broken.