Well normde your the overall winner... I pulled the small plate on the top of the valve cover off, and within four seconds thought - huh the linkage just needs adjusting. Wouldn't really have known without being able to see inside and could tell that the cable/wire of the pull cord/decompression lever(one at the dashboard) didn't pull the lever far enough to press on the valve springs - thus limiting compression. I would bet that I was losing some compression, but not enough to notice. I'll pull some slack out of the pull cord and tighten it back up. - see what happens. One can/could also adjust the amount this lever pushes down through these holes - their purpose i suppose - via a nut and bolt on the rod, under the cover.
This all begs the question. Some people responding to this post said that no way would their tractor start or run with the decompression level pulled. Other said theirs would. Right now mine starts and runs with only slight functionality of the decompression lever. I see now, and I bet I could, max it out and not be able to start/run the tractor with it pulled. Which is right?? I think I will...keep my foot out my mouth and see if anyone chimes in. Meanwhile I'll consult the manual. **edit - I just re-read the posts and it seems that i am the only one who can start thrir tractor with the lever pulled. Looks like I'll make it so that it pulls "completely"***
Of course in my world this 3 minute job is going to take much longer since the bolt that holds/puts pressure on the wire has had its head twisted off at some point in the past, and the metal of the bolt is about the hardness of molding clay...there's gotta be a bolt of the same thread in a drawer in the garage somewhere...