Lawn mower won't start after winter storage - help!

It's finally getting warm here and I tried to start my lawn mower for the first time this spring. It's a Craftsman gas mower, maybe 4 years old. I drained the gas at the end of last season like you're supposed to, but now it won't start at all. Pull cord pulls fine but nothing catches. Could it be the spark plug? The oil looks okay. Any ideas before I take it to a shop?

Steve - did you run the mower until it was completely out of gas, or did you drain it while there was still some in the tank? If you left gas sitting all winter, it's probably gummy and clogging up the carburetor. Try this: remove the spark plug, squirt a little carb cleaner into the cylinder, let it sit for 10 minutes, then try to start it. If it fires, you've got a fuel system issue. You'll probably need to clean or replace the carburetor.

Also check the air filter - if it got moisture in it over the winter, that could be choking the engine. Pull it out and see if it's hard or crusty. If so, replace it - they're cheap ($10-15) and easy to change. While you're at it, new spark plugs are like $3-5 and take 2 minutes to swap. Old spark plugs can cause starting issues even if they look okay. These are easy fixes before you spend money on a carburetor.

I think I remember - I drained it but there might have been a little bit left. Sounds like I've got a carb issue. Is this something I can fix myself or do I need to take it in? I'm fairly handy but never worked on small engines before.

You can totally fix it yourself! There's a YouTube video for every mower out there. Basically you'll need to remove the carb, soak it in carb cleaner overnight, and rebuild it with a kit (usually $15-20). But honestly, if your mower is 4 years old and you've never done maintenance on it, it might be worth just replacing it. A new carburetor is $50+, and a new mower is $200-300. Sometimes the math doesn't work out. But for learning purposes, go for it!