I have a very similar problem with a Briggs & Stratton 17 HP engine. I have put in a new carb overhaul kit. (The float was gunked up pretty bad, but now looks new, checked for leak or holes in it, found no indication that float is damaged.) Put carb back on engine. Engine runs, but poorly. It sounds likes it chugging, noticing black smoke out of exhaust especially at Idle. One thing I didn't notice in all the above posts. Is the adjustment needle on the carb an IDLE adjustment needle or a main needle? What is the initial setting? The engine does have spark. Although one spark plug shows more of an orange spark rather than blue. Both plugs were damp from unburned fuel when I removed them. (They are old plugs.) Engine running: It'll sit and run. I can drive the tractor. However when I slowly engage the mower blades (blades are new, bearings are good, belt is new) the engine dies, unless I quickly disengage the blades and apply full choke. Heading out to store to get new spark plugs this morning. I've already poured quite a bit of money in this beast. I may be the one who has a rolling ball of fire!

based on your description, that sounds more like a failing ignition switch than a starter. If you have elect skills and test eqpt (VOM, Cont tester, etc) and a wiring diagram, shouldn't be too difficult to chase it down. OTW , prolly need a competent mechanic to take a look before you start buying replacement parts....

***"not necessary to disconnect both cables when working on electrical, just the negative/black?"*** That is correct.....So long as the negative/black cable is in fact, the GROUND cable for the vehicle electrical system. And in most machines built in the last 40 years or so, the negative/black is the ground conductor. But you must "cling to" every word of the description. "Negative", "Black", "Ground"! Each word must be considered as a separate and individual criterion when you are preparing to "put a tool" to the battery terminals. (this is a lesson, listen up) There are currently (no pun) no laws governing the colors of wires and cables used in AUTOMOTIVE applications. There are "generally accepted and recognized practices", but no REGULATIONS. Black is nearly universally used as the color (by OEMs) of the negative battery cable, Red for positive cable, but some OEMs might decide to use black cables for BOTH positive and negative conductors leading from the battery posts. And, additionally, you must always consider that the original RED positive cable.....might have been replaced with a BLACK cable. Furthermore, the OEM, BLACK negative cable, might have been replaced with a RED one (you see all kinds of things in "used equipment". The odds of finding a BLACK cable for the positive conductor are actually pretty good, while the odds for finding a RED cable for the negative conductor are slim (but I have found them more than once). Nonetheless, since it only requires that you "look at" the markings on the battery (positive+, negative-), that is what you MUST DO,.... each and every time you prepare to "put a tool" on a battery terminal. ALSO, when you identify the negative post/cable of the battery......trace the cable to where it connects next. If the negative cable connects to the vehicle frame, chassis, or engine block....it is the GROUND conductor. This configuration is what you will find on just about every machine/vehicle of recent manufacture. But, it makes sense to understand the relationship of "color vs. polarity vs. function" in a vehicle electrical system. IF the black cable is connected to the negative battery post at one end, and to the "vehicle ground" at the other end.........that is the only cable you need to remove from the battery in order to render the electrical system "inert" and safe to work on. Even that statement will have "limitations" if the vehicle has advanced electronics and engine/cab controls, but for MOST L&G tractors, it is the best, safest, practice. ................................................... Getting back to your Huskee. Before doing the next test, disconnect the GROUND cable from the battery. Leave all wires connected to the solenoid "posts",.... connected for the test. The black/blue pair will be removed but reconnected in this procedure. To further test whether the solenoid is defective (shorting inside the solenoid), if the first series of tests point in that direction, remove the mounting bolts of the solenoid (where solenoid mtg bracket fastens to chassis/frame. Reconnect the black/blue pair of wires to their same chassis/frame bolt and secure with nut. Use some kind of non-metallic, electrically insulating material (suitable piece of cardboard, carpet, even an old sneaker will do) to set the solenoid on so it can't touch a grounded surface (chassis). Once you have the solenoid resting on the non-metallic material, reconnect the ground cable to the battery negative post. Now, operate the ignition switch to the start position. If the fuse does not "blow" now, it indicates the solenoid has an internal short to ground (fuse DID NOT blow because no ground was provided for the "short" to use). Don't expect the solenoid to operate during the test. Access to the solenoid on my Huskee is somewhat "difficult at best", but I find I can get a better view of it by going in from the right side floorboard/step area (front end of center console and backside of engine). I have to lock the brake/clutch pedal down to get more room for my head. In taking the photos, I went through the battery access under seat AND from the other end I described above.

My '88 Mazda (replacement single key about two bucks) was bought over three years ago - from an auto insurance appraiser, who had some plastic stickers that looked like bullet holes on one back corner, and offered to take them off, but I said to leave them there, that they weren't hurting anything. About 6 months later, I was in a smash that twisted one rear wheel a bit, and it took more than I'd paid to repair it, but my friend the body shop guy said that, at about 125,000 mi., it had some good mileage in it, so I fixed it - my contribution to energy waste and global pollution and warming, I guess, as repairs take a small amount of material and a lot of work. It's a standard transmission, so when a signal light goes yellow in the city, if traffic is normal, I push the clutch and turn off the key. The bigger cars go past at speed ... then a couple of hundred feet from the intersection, on come the red lights at the back! Can't people with automatics drive far enough ahead ... and think what they're doing enough to take their foot off of the throttle when the signal lights turn yellow?? My friend the body shop guy, though a few years younger than I, has been over afew hills and around a few corners in his lifetime and I doubt whether he can be taken for a ride easily when it comes to business ... as his business looks prosperous(and he has a vacation location at Lake Havasu). Some stuff in Canada is dearer than in the U.S. ole joyful