Group, Have a Briggs question here. Briggs 13.5 HP (16.5 ftlbs torque) Intek Snow engine on a Simplicity P1732 snow thrower. Four (4) years in service. Engine and blower have run flawlessly since purchase up until about the first or second use of this winter season. Engine pull-over now seems very hard on part of the pull cycle, I'm assuming compression stroke. User has to really pull hard and steady to roll it past this point. Engine still starts reliably once past this point (jumps right to life). The pull start (sometimes kick-back with blowback through carb intake) happens at start (cold) after priming the carb circuit, and also pulls over hard (hot) after use with fuel valve off and residual fuel burnt out of carb until stall. The AC electric starter also has a hard time rolling the flywheel past this point also. Historically it pulled over smooth (always) with no kickback. Issue onset suddenly and was not a gradual degradation. I'm suspecting maybe a valve issue or decompression control issue. Does this behavior sound familiar to anyone? Is there anything I can correct from the OHV cover? (valve lash of course) other decompression parts? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Briggs Intek Snowmax model 210000

Greeting, The auger on my JD 524D snowblower turns slow. It won't shoot the snow fast and snow are stuck in there. The shear bolts are all in good shape. What could cause this problem? the belt? Thanks.