That's a good point drjbeam - it could easily apply to my old Craftsman as well. I bought it for $20 on ebay, after it had been unused for a couple of years, so the fuel pump diaphragm may not be in great shape. I got it running without much trouble, but the other whipper snippers I see people using are less finicky than mine. However I read a Ryobi manual recently, and it described the way mine runs as what you should expect.
