Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

My Ariens 7524 was working perfectly last year (last year was its first year). Couldn't start it today. It has gas, feul shut off valve was left open since last year, Key switch is in run position, and the start works fine. I kept it in the gaurage for the whole time. Any help would be highly appreciated. What is the likelihood f the carburetor being dirty? The snow blower was used for about 3 hours last year. If you think it is the carburetor how should I clean it. I am not sure if I got the engine manual.

Thanks Jake for the helpful advice. I was planning on following your advice over the weekend when I had more time - but I just figured out the problem. The Ariens manual shows the fuel shut off valve as horizontal when open, vertical when closed. The engine manual shows the exact opposite (which I only looked at tonight). So, based on the Ariens manual I put the fuel switch to horizontal. That is why it started for 20 seconds, then stopped and never started again. Obviously, I had it backwards (just took me a few days to figure out), but isn't it strange the Ariens manual and the engine manual shows the exact opposite settings for the fuel switch. Oh well - problem solved. Thanks all!