I have a 3 year old Craftsman edger with a 3.5 Briggs engine that is very difficult to start... sometimes up to 55 pulls. The carb has no adjustments, the gas is new and topped up, the spark plug is new. After following directions depressing the fuel bulb 3x (no choke) still no easy start. I have tried pouring some gas into the spark plug hole and it will start for a second or two and stop. I have removed hoses and easy periferals and found no dirt or reason for a hard start. Have heard that this model may have valve timing problems, but cannot find specs in the book or online. The edger is not abused and used every 2- 3 weeks on a city lot.
When new, I had difficulty starting it with 3/4 tank of gas, but once filled completely it seemed to start. It seems to get progressively worse each season. Any suggestions?

Could be the diaphram gasket that is between the carb and tank, watch for the small spring and don't loose them when changing. If you pull more than three times, something is wrong!! And you must be a very patient individual, because I would not pull something 55 times to start it, I guarantee you that.

I would start with the Compression