Von, I have a Craftsman lawn mower that wouldn't start the whole 2nd year I had it. It *would* start if I took the top off the carburetor and poured a little gasoline directly into it. Once it started the first time, it would start again if it was warm, so I could finish the lawn. If it's an emergency situation, like your lawn is beginning to look like a hay field like mine, that might work until you can figure out what's wrong. Mine has a primer bulb. Miraculously, the 3rd year now, it has started just fine every time. Good luck with it! Mowers can sure be aggravating.
A few years ago, I couldn't get mine to start. I took the air filter off of it, intending to clean it, and lost it. But it's running without it.
@Ken Anderson, I seen a video on YouTube showing a lawn mower in repair where the air filter wasn't being used but that wasn't the problem it was something else.
And so the saga is coming to an end... An Airforce veteran with lawnmower and gas can stopped by and asked if we wanted our grass cut. I had passed by many other requests but when Johnny said,"He's a Vet." that got my attention. He didn't have to but he shared his situation with us but it didn't matter to me because my answer was Yes. He was very polite and you could tell he had been working pretty hard before he reached our house. He even offered to repair our sidewalk and gave us a verbal resume of his experience. I was very impressed and discussed details with a strong interest. I thought, God sent us a jewel. He said he would accept any amount of payment for both front and back, which I countered with 'How much?' The grass was pretty high but his price tag wasn't. He finished the job with ease commenting that the grass was like angel hair. As I was settling with him I asked if he repaired lawn mowers and he said he would come the next day to look at it. It was late and the sun had set but he did return. I watched intently as he manuevered the machine to get access to the carburetor and boy was it dirty. He proceeded to clean it with carburetor cleaner and fiddle around with other parts and said, 'Now let's give it a go.' It started right up but he wasn't satisfied with the way it sound. Idling needs adjusted so he will return today for that.