Brian,
Did you drain all the gas out of the carb when putting it away for the
winter? If not, it could be some old gasoline clogging up your carburetor. You
can try a carb
cleaner, but it may be too far gone, in which case the carb must be removed and
thorougly cleaned. Also check your air filter. If it looks very dirty or
clogged, you can try changing that. Both these problems affect the air/fuel
delivery, which I suspect is your problem.

Sherwin D.

Brian Cohen wrote:

I just bought a relatively new (1 or 2 years old) Honda HRA-214
lawnmower, used. It starts on the first pull, no problem, but when I
push down the lever that engages the blade, it stalls out. Any advice on
what may be happening here would be greatly appreciated. Gas is fine,
oil seems fine, bag is empty and the spark plug is pretty much brand new.

Thanks!

-Brian