Engine L110 will not turn over

I have a very used L110 and it turn over and ran well first time I used it. Since then, I cannot get the mover to turn over to start.
I have used different batteries, attached directly to the starter, however all it will do is turn the engine once or twice slowly, then the starter gets hot. I have taken out the
plug and then the started turns the engine freely. I also disconnected the exhaust tube to see if there was any obstruction. I am at a loss for why it will no spin.. Thanks

:welcome:
John,
Classic case of excessive valve lash.
Go buy a new rocker cover gasket then pull the rocker cover clean off all the old silicon, adjust the rockers, put some axel grease on the new gasket ( to encourage you to do this at the required 200 hour intervals ).
When adjusting the rockers, the grub screw in the middle is the lock and the big nut is the adjustment.
Be careful when you pull the cover because the lash cap/s may have fallen off the top of the valves if the gap got too big.