I have a simplicity tractor that I am tinkering with. It wont start and when I started looking I found that the starter will spin but the gear will not pop up to engage with the flywheel. So I tried lubricating it and nothing the gear actually looks like it gets pulled down a little when the key is turned. This will be the first of many problems but I wont know about them till I can get this one fixed. Thanks.

Dave

Hello Dave, welcome to the site.

First thing to check is your battery is fully charged because a weak battery will cause the starter to spin but not enough juice for it to engage.
Another possibility is that something on the starter gear is backwards causing to pull downward instead of shooting up. I cannot give you any more advice until you post the model and type of your engine.

-Justin3

Also check the polarity of the battery hook up, if the battery is hooked up the polarity reversed the starter motor will run backwards on most engines.