*SIGH*... Y'know mownie, I really do think that the hard-to-turn-the-engine-over syndrome is related to the starter. Now I can't get it to turn the engine more than a single revolution at all even when it is cold (I have it uncovered so I can see what it is doing when cranking it), let alone turn it over to fire. This is what it was doing when it was hot. So can't try out the carb adjustments yet since I can't get it to turn the flywheel fast enough to fire the engine at all. What HAS been happening is when you turn the ignition key, the starter driveshaft pops up, the gear engages the flywheel, then it stops wmmph at a high compression point in the engine or something, and then labors and can't turn it past that point, like something is jamming up somewhere. At least once tonight though it cranked the engine a couple revolutions without incident but it wasn't seeming to get any firing action; that was right after I put the battery on the charger briefly. THEN, after that a couple times the starter drive shaft (or whatever it is) did not pop up at all upon turning the key; it sat there and spinned....so we know it is getting current. Tried a little WD-40 to the shaft under the silver disk-shaped part below the gear but did not make much difference...a and finally another time the shaft popped up, engaged, stopped (when it stops it is engaged with the flywheel and stays there after releasing the key; you have to turn the shaft to make it come back down), and then there were a couple of clicking noises coming from inside the starter too when the key was held in start briefly past the jam-up point. That also happened on one or two tries. Sooooo....Battery? Starter? Neither? Both? lol. I replaced a broken plastic part at the top of the drive shaft on the starter season before last; will have to look up what it is called but remember removing and replacing the pin that holds it all together to the drive shaft was next to impossible...so kind of hesitant to try to tear it all down again because it was such a pain. Way easier to just buy a new one, albeit a lot pricier.. Might make more sense just to put the battery on the charger to be sure it does have sufficient charge before blowing $125 on a new starter but will it hurt the battery if it DOESN'T need charging to do this? Can't afford the starter at this point anyway. Sorry to change this thread so late in the game, if you think I need to start another let me know. Dang dinosaur...it just doesn't want to do any work, that's all... :^\

***"added benefit of not drowning the engine, if that IS what is happening."***"first the plug: The pictures were taken BEFORE running it at all, after it had sat from the night before"*** OK, so, "sat from the night before"??? Does that mean you parked the tractor immediately after running, while the engine was "hot from use"??? OR you had been trying unsuccessfully to get the engine started and running....prior to it having sat through the night??? This detail is quite important because: If you stopped the engine while "hot from use", there "should not" have been ANY wetness (unless from oil, but you say engine does not smoke) or "sheen" visible on the plug. The heat from use would have left the plug completely dry and any soot or carbon (from rich mix) would have been "dry and powdery". But, on the other hand, if you had been repeatedly cranking the engine (unproductively), and then just decided "to heck with this!!!! I'm done for today and I'll come back tomorrow"........and then next AM pulled the plug and photo'ed it, I'm afraid we still can't say for sure if your carb is "drowning" your engine, or if the wet condition of plug is simply from all the unproductive cranking. I'm thinking that "drowning" might already be taking place, and may be contributing to your present problem. One thing kssue should do at this point is to "pull" the oil dipstick and: (1)Smell the oil for the presence of gasoline. With so much unproductive cranking of the engine, plus the indicated "over rich" condition of the carb, even if the engine has not been "drowned", it certainly has been "flooded", and gasoline "might" be present in the fuel.(2) Do a "runny test". In the "old days", if a mechanic suspected gasoline contamination of the crankcase lube oil, he might perform a SWAG "runny test" by pulling the oil dipstick and then touch the wet end of the dipstick to one of his fingertip or palm callouses. Then he would observe how the oil "dispersed" from the central drop, into the swirls and whorls of the friction ridges in the skin. If the oil was thinned or contaminated with gasoline, he would see a relatively rapid spread of "color" into the network of tiny grooves that are the "trough" counterpart of the friction ridges of skin that comprise our "fingerprints". If the oil was not thinned, the drop of oil would tend to remain in the form of the single drop that was deposited on the hand. I no longer suggest that anyone perform the "runny test" in the manner of putting suspected oil on human skin. A similar test can be done using a piece of "unwaxed" or "unfinished" cardboard. This "plain ole cardboard" is the kind most packaging boxes are made of. All you need is a clean, dry piece of this cardboard. Using the oil dipstick, deposit one or two drops onto the cardboard. After the oil is put onto the cardboard, lay the cardboard on a flat surface, oily side up. Use a watch or other timekeeper to measure elapsed time. If the oil is very thinned (high gasoline content), the entire amount of oil will be absorbed into the cardboard in a matter of 3 minutes or less. The less gasoline in the oil, the slower the drop will be absorbed. Because there is no way to control all the possible variables of this test (moisture content of specific cardboard, type of cardboard, ambient temperature, etc.), it helps to also use an identical (or the same) piece of cardboard and test some other "oil samples" from different sources to compare the time it takes for the oil to absorb. Even that will be inconclusive unless the oil samples originally were the same product. But, if you use a couple drops of suspect oil, a couple drops from a different engine (believed to be ok), and a couple drops from a container of fresh, unused oil, you can get a pretty good idea. When I do this, I use a pencil to "graph" the growth of the "halo" that will spread outward from the center of the initial drop. Using the "timer", I mark the progress of the "halo formation" at one minute intervals. If you plan to test other sample for comparison, do them all in about the same hour using the same source of cardboard. Realistically speaking, the "runny test" is kinda "long and drawn out" for using to determine if oil is fit for service or not. It mainly serves as a way to get an indicator of gas in the oil AT THE TIME OF THE TEST only. In the case of the engine in this thread, I would probably be inclined to just say, "I don't know if I have gas in the oil, but with all that's been going on, there should be some gas in the oil. Therefore, I'm going to install the inline fuel shutoff valve and then change the oil for "peace of mind". ***"first the plug: The pictures were taken BEFORE running it at all, after it had sat from the night before"*** Oh, you mentioned "Have read of that under some other post as well but forget the circumstances...too many hours of sifting thru posts". In response to that, I am going to create a new thread to outline a "trick" I use a lot to "streamline" researching and saving found information. I'll probably come back to this thread and post a "cross link" to the new thread as well.

Reg unleaded fuel and it is pump fresh. All airbox and carb components were cleaned thoroughly before reassembly. Update - Changed the oil and Wix filter, was in stock at O'Reillys for $11.00. I changed all the fuel lines out with new high quality fuel hose and darned if it did not start kinking again right where it makes a 90 degree bend where it comes off the bottom of the tank. Butts against the frame work. I got some tightly coiled spring that fits very snugly on the hose and installed it over the bend, and a new fuel filter so that takes care of that. Ran it again for 15 minutes and almost right away it starts running rough and trying to cut out when in the tall grass and out of it but worse under load. I could feel vibration thru the steering wheel. Occasionally it would clear up. On my motorcycle forum we do what is called plug chops. Drive it til it starts running rough, kill the engine and pull the sparkies. They were both very carbon fouled. I did not notice any black smoke this go round though. Walt, I am liking your idea of running on one cylinder when it starts running badly. The reason I am thinking so is I grabbed the laser thermometer right after pulling the plugs and shot both cylinder heads on the inside of the vee. Left side is 210 deg, right side is 150 deg. This is a dead giveaway that the right cylinder is not firing but why is still arguable. I am convinced the right cylinder is losing fire at times. Overheating coil? I stuck the plugs in the wires and grounded the threads while cranking and got spark on both sides. ??? Back to the carb again? I guess I could swap the 2 coils around and see if the cold head switches sides. What do y'all think.

I am guessing you have a pop up blocker on that is blocking the download box from appearing if you clicked on those links I provided and still could not get it. Yes any program you install will have to make changes to your computer how else would it install, it has to make changes to the registry and add itself into the system. Just removing Norton from add remove is not sufficient you need to follow the directions I provided and the link to the removal tool for Norton. Norton is extremely intrusive and even using the removal tool will not get it all. How are you getting the question for Avast to make changes if you are saying it did not even download? Tell us exactly what is happening when you go to the download links provided. Do you see a blue box appear with the .exe and the save dialog? If not what do you see what is happening? Did the pdf for install instructions help?