Fred Hall

This thread is a lifesaver - I inherited this mower when a cousin passed away a week ago.  Only had 48 hours on it, but noticed it did not start well when cold - just like all the above posts.  Anyway, looked at the front left side (left when sitting on the tractor) of the engine and found the 8mm nut shown in the (hopefully) attached picture clamping the throttle cable housing in place.

Loosened the nut, pulled back the cable about a half inch (towards the right in the picture) and re-tightened the nut.  Now the engine can get fully choked and fires up within 2 seconds of turning the key.  Thanks everyone!