It felt as though there is no spark.

What do you mean by "it felt as though there was no spark"? Did you actually
test to see if there was a spark? I have a
19 yr. old Toro that wouldn`t start this year. 2 yr. old gas. I checked for
spark and got shocked.....yes there was spark.
I actually took off the recoil system and put a 3/4 in. socket on the
bolt under their and used a drill to crank the thing.
While cranking the engine I got nada until I kept pressing the primer again and
again.
It did then start but went crazy full bore.
I finally realized the governor on the carb. was frozen............stuck.
Maybe leaving it outside let some water froze on the same part? Just a
suggestion.
Dan.