John Deer JS 36 Hard to start New

I bought a John Deere JS 36 from Home Depot Online. Problem is starting. When first set up it took a few pulls to start, I thought that was normal, because it was new. But every time I use it, it takes more and more pulls to start. Home Depot told me I had to bring it to dealer which is kind of far away. I brought it in and they told me there was water in the fuel, and charged me $75 for that. Took it home and cleaned gas can out and got new gas. Well same situation. It takes maybe 6 pulls from cold and sometimes 2 when hot. Any ideas before I have to travel back to service center to pay another $75