You're right, that pin/spring is in the wrong end of the pictured starter for that pin to be the one in his bellhousing. I can't find an exploded view of an overruning clutch, but that's gotta be where the parts are coming from. In the picture below, there's springs and pins from an overrunning clutch, and that is pushed into the bellhousing every time it starts.



Edited for clarity.

^Winner. If the starter uses a solenoid to push the engagement gear into the flywheel, the starter might still function with the overrunning clutch all messed up.

http://www.procarcare.com/images/shar/encyclopedi...

Check out parts 15 and 16. 59Parisienne was right on the money.

Skid loaders require a delicate touch. Not having any suspension to speak of will do that to a vehicle, and adding foot controls for the loader makes it tricky to get used to. That being said, once you've got it mastered, you can do four wheel drifts around concrete barn floors covered in cow crap, and point it right down the 16 foot alley you want to go through. I know it's possible, I've seen me do it.

Lots of the farm equipment we run would probably be considered weird, but the worst has to be our forage harvester. Hydrostatic drive, rear steering, and ungodly amounts of tie rod end slop make for a bad combination. It weaves like a sorority girl in heels on St. Patrick's day, and steering might as well be input by semaphore.