Yes, people love the old suzies, but Toro also had a model w/ the Lawnboy engine as well.

Try changing the plug and cleaning the exhaust port. Is the fuel a fresh mix, i.e. not from last season?

DEFINITELY try cleaning the exhaust port - that is, take the muffler off and clean away all the build up.

OK, thanks. I'm trying to find the same size plug (no luck) and I will drain the fuel, add fresh and clean the exhaust port. I'm really not much of a mechanic but it doesn't sound too difficult. Carb cleaner?

I assume you are talking about the Suzuki 47P engine used on both Commercial Proline and Consumer Toro mowers from the early 1980's to about 2003.

Great engine with few weaknesses but parts have always been expensive and are getting harder to source.

Given your symptoms, I would follow the earlier advice, and also consider the coil and the crankshaft seals. Coil can be a weak area, and they are expensive. Earliest ones (to 1986) used breaker points and 81-1990 coil; later with electronic ignition used 81-2820 ($140.00 to $160.00 online). If crankshaft seals are leaking because of wear, this can cause hard starting and low power as crankcase pumping is affected. Parts are fairly cheap ($6.00 for 81-0720 Upper and $8.00 for 81-0740 Lower), but a major amount of labor to split the cases and replace the seals.

When the mower dies and won't start, try burping it with some ether starting fluid. If it lights up and then dies again, you have a fuel related problem. If it won't run even on starting fluid, probably not carburetor or fuel supply, but ignition, compression, or elsewhere.

Before you get too deep, is this a Commercial mower, or is it a Consumer? Also look at overall condition. A lot of Commercial Prolines were rode hard and put away wet. Although the owner and crew boss were usually pretty careful, the laborers just ran them until they quit. By now, even the latest Prolines are near 10 years old and have had a lot of hard use. Consumer mowers had fewer hours, but were often neglected. You said yours is 25 years old!!!

A Commercial in very good condition is worth $500 or more. At the same time a Consumer machine might only be worth $200 or so. You need to make a hard eyed judgement whether restoring the machine makes economic and operational sense.

Call me silly, but I can't see sinking $200 in parts, plus several hours professional labor in a machine that is only worth $200 or $225 at the end of the day.

Lets take this sequentially starting with the most likely and easiest to fix first. Chances are the plug and port are all crudded up with carbon and partly burnt oil. Try those fixes and new fuel mix and try starting. Two strokes can be a bit fiddly to get started so keep trying if it doesn't start. Post your results. BTW you need the replacement plug for that engine not just one of the same size. Try a mower shop.

Did you ever get this thing running? I've got a similar problem with my TV5002.
It was running fine until this past saturday. I shut it off to check something about 3 seconds after i started it right up and now it won't start anymore.

What could turning off the motor right after starting it mess up??

The coil probably went bad

What Saxman said. I gave up on an '87 'zuki. I also have a Tecumseh 2 stoke on a push Toro. Ran great until it wouldnt start. No spark. Current mower is a 90 something Toro with a 4 stroke Suzuki and a 3 speed . Starts first pull and mows fine.