345 liquid cooled starting issues

[mrfred54]

what to look for, this tractor has begun starting very hard. have to crank for maybe 20 seconds or more. wait a few seconds and crank it some more and keep choking and shut the choke off and choke some more and if I get lucky it will fire up. if not I wait till next day and try again and hope I get it to start. once it starts it runs fine with no issues. has new plugs,air filter,gas filter. any suggestions???? thanks in advance

 

[Boudreaux In Eunice La.]

If that's the same set up as one I worked on a while back you will have a screw in the bottom of the carb on the side. It's a drain valve. Empty the carb and check for water in the carb.

 

[TJR345]

How many hours on it.Week coil would cause hard start,do you have a good spark.The valve lash should be adjusted every 800 hours,this would cause hard starting also.