Thanks, FF and Moth3r.
I looked around the net yesterday and it seems that a lot of people have problems with the Craftsman lawn tractors. I remember my grandparents had to return one as well. My guess is that maybe some of those priorty parts are problematic. (hopefully not on purpose, huh?) My ancient old lawnmower has a regular old B&S motor on it and until recently, would start on the first pull, even after sitting all winter.