Starting lawnmower

Are you closing the choke ? Does it have a primer bulb ?

My first guess would be the choke not closing. A just for fun question would be "Have you checked your air filter lately?"

Maybe auto-choke not working?

Maybe dirty carburetor?

bad primer or chike? Bad starting procedure? or possibly plugged idle circuit - runs great at speed - but would not idle if there was an idle setting (which many do not have) The idle circuit is necessary for starting

You can find replacement carbs for most engines like this for ~$15 on Ebay. Whatever is wrong it's likely in the carb. You could take it apart, inspect, clean. But then you'd need a carb rebuild kit with gaskets, needle valve, etc. And they cost $5+.

I didn't know that until our discussion here on another thread. I did exactly that, bought a carb for a Toro Recycler on Amazon this past summer, about $20 I think. Unbolt the old, bolt on the new, everything fit, everything was included, it started perfectly and ran the whole season.

At that price it isn't worth rebuilding. Probably should get a spare.

Now I've collected a couple of non running Ryobi 4 stroke weed wackers, I think I'll try the same on one of those. Both are missing fuel lines and the carb looks trashed, one pulls pretty easy and the other not so much. I've been using corded electrics but this would be easier if it works.

Battery driven is the way to go. Especially for a weed whacker.