Craftsman Riding Mower Sputtering and Dying

My mower has just over 50 hours on it and had used it with no problem 1 1/2 months ago. Today went to mow and was very difficult to start and when it did, it spit and sputtered and smoked and would not stay running. The gas was only 1 1/2 month old too that was left in it but I drained it anyway and put in fresh gas. Same thing, it would eventually start and run real ragged and after about 5 minutes of just sitting on it with it running, it would rev up to normal and then go dead within 10 seconds.

I took the little cylinder looking thing out from under the carb and made sure the plunger was loose and moving properly. (I had a problem with that and ethanol gas one time gumming it up, now use 100% gas.) It was a little catchy to begin with but kept moving it and it limbered up fine.

The mower was also very difficult to restart after it would run for a few minutes.

Took out the sparkplug and it looked fouled so I replaced it and it still was very difficult to even fire. Finally got it started a few times and when it would run for that 5 minutes, it would rev up, run normal and go dead within 10 seconds.

When it was sputtering, it would be smoking too but once it got full throttle, the smoking would stop.

I never tried to engage the blade because it barely had enough power to run.
The last time I got it running, just before dark, I put it in the highest gear and
drove it around and after about 5 minutes it ran normal, 10 seconds and dead, same pattern it had all afternoon.

I won't to reiterate that it was very difficult to restart once it would crank and quit. I kept taking the sparkplug out as I felt it was flooding.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

Tried it again this morning and will not fire.

 

While your description of the problem is good, you didn't tell us what you have. More info needed. At this point it sounds like a carb problem.

 

I had put craftsman in the title but forgot more detail in my message, sorry. 17.5 HP 42" mower. 6 speed transaxle.
Thanks for the reply.

 

Sounds like you have carburetor problems. I think your choke is sticking closed, causing it to flood, until it finally comes loose, then it burns off the rich mixture and dies because of carb restrictions inside. In other words, the carb needs cleaning.