Last gas tractor I had was a Gravely. Don't actually remember how we started our tractors on the farm when I was in my low teens. On the Gravely, it needed choke and a little bit of throttle.
The auto choke on cars/pickups used to be set by pushing the throttle down at least about 1/3 to 1/2 way. This did two things: 1) gave it a squirt of fuel from the throttle push; 2) allows the auto choke to close and auto throttle set cam to move to auto set the throttle part way open.
On my gas generator, it has no manual throttle and has an auto choke. However, it needs a shot of ether into the air cleaner to get it going without a lot of cranking.
Ralph