I have a 3 yr old Sears lawn tractor with a Briggs and Stratton 22 HP twin Vee cylinder engine.

Over the last 1-2 yrs it has been increasingly hard to start, but when it does get running it runs smoothly and well.

The only way to get the engine started from a cold start is to remove the air filter and pour a cap full of gas down into the air intake for the carburetor - and then when you hit the starter the engine will fire right up in a couple of seconds.

Without pouring a bit of gas into the carb the starter will properly kick the engine over but it won't fire - even if the choke is on fully.... In other words it looks like no gas is getting to the carb - but the gas tank is full and once the engine is running it works perfectly... (- and as a rule the engine will start normally once it has been running and is warmed up.)

It looks to me that the choke isn't working, or not properly adjusted, although when you put the choke on you seem to feel/hear the choke "plate" engaging - but I'm wondering if it's maybe not fully closing...?

It looks to be a bit complicated to get at the choke assembly so it's not real easy to have look at what's happening without some serious disassembly...

So rather than tearing it apart just yet, I thought I'd start by asking for some advice especially maybe from someone who has had a similar experience and found a good fix...

Thanks and regards.

P.S. Am also thinking/wondering if a squeeze fuel pump (like used on an outboard motor), mounted in the fuel line just before the fuel pump might go a long way to priming the carb and help get the engine running without having to pour some gas into the carb inlet.