Wes, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I am both angry and sad.
Yesterday, I had to mow over 1/2 an acre with my lil' Toro? Why?
Because after about 1 month of "neglect" due to the Maryland drought, I couldn't start my green baby. I checked/cleaned the plugs, filters, carb, battery, and even added "fresh" gas.
I suspect the starter went bad on my MTD (2nd time in 5 years). Lots of juice but the engine turns slowly. I will be curious to see if my visiting tractor mechanic confirms my suspicion.
I estimate that the cost for a starter is about $125 and $35 to install, and maybe another $35 to clean the carb plus the $61 for the service call and then the miscellaneous yearly maintenance... It'll probably result in costs of $250- $300.
Wish I had the time to work on it myself.
Snif, snif, gotta go...