I grew up in SW Arkansas on land filled with Osage Orange (aka beau d'arc) and what we called Honey Locust, which looked just like your picture above that you call Water Locust. Whatever its called, these will put you out of business with flats unless you line your tires. I am not sure what...
If you need to start it today, then follow the instructions above to remove, then connect the two wires together sans safety switch. If it starts, you will know you found the problem, and can replace the part at a later time. :sneaky: