VLV60 seems hard to turn over by hand

I am working on an Ariens walk behind for a neighbor and it has been quite a puzzle. I was told it would not start and would kick back when you attempted to start it. It has a Tecumseh VLV60.

I removed all the tin, cleaned the carb, found that the idler for the drive belt tensioner had a seized bearing, and the spark plug cap was out of sorts. I also learned that I need a special tool (or do I?) to remove the flywheel to see if the key is sheared. I tried a jawed puller hoping it would just pop off but I was afraid to put too much pressure on it with the jawed puller so I am open for any ideas as to any other way for me to remove the flywheel.

Anyhow, my real question is about the overall health of the engine. I noticed turning the flywheel by hand with the plug removed that this engine seems stiff. I can rotate is counterclockwise somewhat easily but clockwise it seems to drag. It doesn't feel coarse or rough but it is just generally harder to turn than most engines I have dealt with. It also has a squeak sometimes that I can only describe as maybe a dry crank seal rubbing against the crank. Any thoughts? I haven't seen a Tecumseh since I was a kid and never one like this but it seems odd to me that it is so difficult to turn over. I did start it at one point after I cleaned the carb and it seemed to run okay but after shutting it off for a few minutes, I couldn't get it to start again. I'm fairly certain the timing is off but what about being hard to turn by hand? Is that the nature of this beast or is it damaged?

Also, any brilliant ideas for removing the flywheel without ordering the special tools?

Thanks in advance for any input. I just found this forum and I'm sure I'll be spending lots of time on here.

VLV60 seems hard to turn over by hand