Garrett, the fellows have all given good advice. And you’ve already stated you have a good spark (verified during hand cranking, I assume), and that your tractor runs well after you finally get it started. (And we’ll assume running well means it idles slowly and evenly, and it accelerates well, and it runs well at high idle, also.)
There are a few more things that you might want to consider.
Your carburetor should be a DLTX 26 or DLTX 46. The choke plate in those carburetors have a little relief valve in the form of a flapper plate over a hole in the choke plate, and a small spring holds the flapper plate in place over the hole. Make sure that plate and spring are in position and are working, or else your choke is basically worthless.
Your fuel should be FRESH, and some suggest avoiding ethanol blends as they aren’t quite as volatile as straight gasoline and will have a small effect on starting. Today’s gasolines tend to lose volatility more quickly than those of years ago.
Use a fairly large spark plug gap; .030” is standard, but .035” or even .040” will help starting. And I find that fresh, non-carboned plugs will enhance starting to a remarkable degree. If I have to pull the flywheel on my “H” more than three times, I will change to fresh plugs, and it’ll fire up every time on the very next pull.
Loose throttle shaft bushings will leak air into the carburetor and will work against choking, as will loose brass plugs in the carburetor body. Same thing about leaky manifold gaskets and the carb-to-manifold gasket – although all those things would greatly affect running performance, which you indicate is good.
Check the fuel level in the carburetor bowl. It should be ¾” below the cast iron body of the carb.
Most “H’s” are very happy to start with little or no choking, and with very little throttle. Although the Instructions always said to start with ½ throttle and choking, my “H” will be very cantankerous if treated that way. It starts quite well with the throttle closed and no choke, unless the temperature is below 50 degrees or so. Then one turn with the choke, and no more. As Frank mentioned, FSB 200 (issued in 1959) did admit that tractors that started hard may start better with little or no throttle. The idea is that the higher velocity air rushing past the small gap between the throttle bore and the plate will better vaporize the fuel, apparently.
In summary though, if your tractor has good cranking spark, and it runs very well throughout the speed range after it is started, and if you’re unable to flood it by choking, it sounds as if you have a problem with your choke.
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