said by jdvmax :I haven't actually cleaned the carb. I guess I was 'trying' to avoid that if possible, because I haven't done it before. I did put new gas in. I will attempt to clean it. Can I ask though if that would cause the symptoms I am seeing with the pull start? It doesn't seem like it would. It only seems that the tarred up carb might keep it from getting enough gas to start, if I could pull the starter chord sufficiently.
It is not likely to start without a blade. I think you are just wasting your time until you address the blade.