any small engine (snowblower) experts?
 

i pulled out my trusty craftsman 5hp snowblower from the shed for the oncoming snow forecast and it fired right up just like last year (when i used it exactly once). it had developed a miss every few seconds which strangely smooths out and disappears if i turn on the choke one notch. this tells me something about the mixture(?) but the manual doesn't say anything about any adjustments at all. anyone have any suggestions on how i might make any adjustments?

Is the fuel left over from last year? Probably just a little debris left in the carb. You may even want to pull the plug and inspect it. Probably just need running hard.

no, i always add stabilizer then run it dry before storage. fresh gas in it now and just checked the plug. i can make it run a little smoother by messing with the main fuel jet but the choke always makes it run better which kinda tells me it's leaned out. can't figure out where any adjustments are though...

Could be a cracked intake manifold gasket. It's getting air from somewhere other than through the carb. Means that you have to introduce extra fuel via the choke to compensate.

It's a theory...

the fuel line hose was loose so i cut off the rotted tip - didn't help. can't figure where it's getting air. i found the throttle and mixture screws. screwed both in to max and let out 1 1/2 per conventional wisdom (?). mixture adjustment which should have done something doesn't help too much. maybe it's time to replace the carb, but it's still serviceable. just don't like an engine that's not running smooth as i'd like....

Check the bolts around the intake.

I have a craftsman leaf blower that managed to shear one of the bolts that held the carb onto the body. I guess vibration and bolt material eventually did it in.

That has since been fixed, and now the exhaust bolts have done the same thing! :mad:

If the bolts are working themselves loose, they may have introduced an air leak!

Take the carb off and check it closely... I have had them warp.. and the factory knew it was bad but they wait till you have it happen instead of sending you info on it.... it drove me crazy before I found an honest helpful service person...
I then had a MW which would only run with the choke engaged and the person I gave it to said the float was leaking..both were Briggs Engines....
Unless you take it apart you can't tell if perhaps you have some obstruction in the little fuel holes... or the air bleed holes...etc...
But when you get it running... trade it for a Gravely 7.6 hp with snowblower... :D