Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): Problems Starting Huskee Lawn Tractor, tractor supply company, huskee lawn tractor

Question
Dear Eric; I have a Huskee Lawn Tractor made for Tractor Supply Company.  I have had it about 3 years. Last fall it started not wanting to start all the time. When you turned the starter and it came up on the compression stroke the engine would kick back and not start, some times it would start run for just a few moments and the engine would kick and stall out the engine and of course sometimes it would start and run fine while I mowed my 2 acre lawn. This mower has a Tecumseh 17 hp Over Head Valve Industrial Commercial engine. It has what I call an automatic transmission. You push in a pedal place the leaver in the forward position release the pedal and then you just move the shaft back and forth to get it in the gear you want without having to push the clutch in, it has a seperate throtle mounted on the dash. I have started to try and fix it myself but have ran into a problem that has me stumped. First of all the tractor was completely serviced to mfg specs. this spring. I have thus far replaced the starter and the battery. I have adjusted the valves to .004. none of this helped at all. I have since removed the coil, all of the belts and the only way that the engine will turn free is by removing the spark plug. If the spark plug is in place and the engine comes up on the compression stroke the engine "bucks" and stalls. It reminds me of if the timeing is advanced to far ahead. Could you give me any help with this mower...my lawn needs it more than I do. If you need all of these engine numbers please let me know, I have them all written down. Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me. I surly will appreciate it.
Sincerely yours,
Barry Scott Ratliff

Answer
It's possible, but rare, that one or both of the battery cables aren't able to carry the load.  I've only found this once, and the mower was very old...but it is possible.

I guess my next question is have you checked the flywheel key?  This will cause the ignition to "advance" if it is sheared; again, this is rare on rider engine, but I have found some sheared keys on tractor engines.

Finally, what oil are you using?  If the oil is too thin it can leak past the rings and cause the engine to "hydraulically lock"; this will definetely cause the engine to buck.  Typically it takes a fair amount of oil to cause the hydraulic lock,i.e you normally will notice oil spray out of the spark plug hole when you crank  the engine.

Let me kow about the key and oil.
Eric