First, you should try draining the float bowl and restarting and letting it run a few minutes. If it ever got tipped too far on its side, then the carb could have filled up with oil and it will smoke like that for a long time even after putting new gas in it while it clears out the bowl. But I'm guessing you've thought of that, and also this would happens the second it starts instead of waiting for warmup. Which all leads to the head gasket probelm that has affected early examples of the FJ180V. Is that the engine you have, or is it the FC150V? If it's the FJ180V, then you may have a blown head gasket and/or warped head that only loses its oil seal after it warms up and expands. When you took the head off to check the bores and ring gaps, did you replace the gasket? I don't know if just replacing the gasket solves the problem. I think the newer engines have a lower compression ratio to solve the problem. That's all I can think of.

Go back to the basics. 1)Is fuel getting the the combustion chamber? A wet plug indicates yes. (maybe even too much fuel if it's soaked.) 2)Do you have a blue spark at the spark plug? 3)Compression. Most likely you have compression on a new engine unless your engine suffered a catastrophic failure. If you suspect the fuel isn't getting there do this. Before taking the carb apart dump a cap full of gas in the carb throat via the removed air filter. Replace the filter and try to start it. If it starts and runs a few seconds then dies then you have a fuel supply problem. Check gas flow to the carb by pulling the fuel line. You should have free flowing gas. If yes replace it and clean the carb as mentioned above. Part of the spark equation can be plug replacement. Sometimes spark plugs can fire in open air and not under compression.Another thing. If you recently refueled then I would check the tank for water in the fuel. Happens a lot. Cans get left open etc.

THANK YOU Brandon for an answer to the pruning question!!!! Will be sure to keep the cuts above ground level!! And to clarify what you and Ken are saying about a view to the utility boxes- ...actually, forget it... I just typed out a huge long explanation that I just deleted...lol ...in short (or @ least shortER) with the height of our deck and where our seating is located, the size of the smokebush, and my intentions (clearly understood at least in my own head- haha) don't worry guys, I'll be fine. I always envisioned a multi-stemmed tree, which would still hide the view of the utility boxes. ...don't think I will end up trying to do tree-form after all but do plan on pruning off many shoots and thin the boy down! as always, i appreciate the input from you all :)

***"Previously I found a sticking fuel float. I addressed that and the leaking fuel stopped."** OK, that's good! But don't be obstinate like some people who have posted such rebuttals as "Don't need a shutoff if the float works right.) In a perfect world that argument might be the end of the story and the sun shines down and all is good etc. But it ain't a perfect world and "I have gas in my oil" is one of the most frequent complaints on this forum. Once upon a time...........all OPE engines came from the OEM with a fuel cock in the tank, or mounted remotely and everybody (almost everybody) knew you had to cut the valve on (and off) to operate the equipment correctly. Price point manufacturing and the quest for "dumb down" features has eliminated the standard fuel cutoff from most machines now. Much to the chagrin of owners everywhere when the undependable float system drowns their engine. The ONLY way to know for sure is to install an inline valve and learn to use it whenever the engine is not running. Put the valve between the tank and the fuel filter to make it cleaner/easier to change out the filter when due.