Craftsman 25cc blower crank problems

I have a Craftsman riding mower with a Kohler CV16S engine. I am blowing fuses big-time. This has been an intermittent problem for some time but usually goes away for a year or so when the fuse is replaced. I have a Craftsman tractor with a CV16S Kohler engine. I use this mower to pick up leaves and when I tried to get it out the fuse was blown and I found that it had the wrong fuse in it. I replaced the fuse and the engine was locked up. I got it loose with minor difficulty and it was charging fine until I shut it off. When I refueled and tried to start it the fuse was blown again. It blows fuses as soon as the fuse touches the connector. I checked the terminals at the regulator and it has continuity from the right side blade to the center blade but none from the center to the left side. I also get continuity from both, the center blade and the right side blade to the regulator housing. I can unplug the regulator and install a new fuse and it starts and runs fine. When checking the leads from the Stator, it shows 31.6 volts across the two outside leads but only about half that from each lead to ground. I tried hooking up the connector to the regulator while running and the ammeter on the tractor disappears to the discharge side and fire flies from the connector. This is with a jumper across the connector that is supposed to have the fuse. At first I thought that it might be the magnets came loose inside the flywheel until I did this last check. I am believing more and more that it is the regulator shorted. The regulator is grounded very well. I hate to buy a regulator without knowing for sure that it is bad. The price I have looked up on the Kohler site is $66 for a new regulator. I don't mind buying one if it is bad but surely don't want to throw money away needlessly. Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks, Ed

Last summer, probably in June or July, I bought a used Yard Machines wood chipper with a Briggs 6.5 OHV engine. I would say it's easily more than 5 years old. It started and ran well when I went to buy it. I brought it home and haven't started it since until this weekend. It will start and run with starter fluid sprayed into the air cleaner, but stops once I stop feeding it starter fluid. I tried this for about 5 minutes. There was a little bit of gas in it, and I filled it before attempting to start it. Any help would be appreciated. I am a heck of a tinkerer, and good mechanically, but I don't know much about small engines. I'm game to give it a shot, however.