Reviving My Snowblower

We have our nor'easter in progress.  Blobs of wet snow have pelted our house and windows for a few hours.  Before it ends, the forecasters predict about six inches of accumulation.  It has not snowed here for just under a year and a half, though I do prep my snowblower early every December.  Last year it didn't start, but being no forecast of snow, I did not make a serious attempt to get it functioning.

As the weathermen gave us a heads up, I gave it another go, again unsuccessful.  But with forecasts never exceeding my capacity to shovel the driveway and walk, my efforts were lackluster.

This cannot go on indefinitely.  Eventually we will receive and amount that I cannot shovel, so I at least tried to learn how to do as much tinkering as I could myself.  Changing the oil was easy, though probably not necessary had I not opened the cap without making the oil reservoir vertical.  A stream gushed out.  I have no good estimate of how much so it was off to Pep Boys for another quart of the lowest priced 5-30W oil on their shelves.  I also bought some Gumout.

It may have been two years since I changed the gasoline, though I try to run the machine at the end of each season until it runs out of gas.  There was still a small residual.  After no successful cranking irrespective of where I placed the choke regulator, I poured in the Gumout hoping the crud will liquify enough to let some gas into the engine.  I waited the hour or two, then the next day.  No luck, not even a successful cranking, so I will need to remove and replace any residual gasoline.  Then the spark plug.  Last year I at least got a spark, though one that did not catch, so this is a long shot, though easy to do.  The next two checklist items bring me to the end of my skill.  I can probably figure out which hose connects the gas tank to the carburetor.  Removing it and cleaning it may be less straightforward I should be able to find the clamps.  Then opening the carburetor I can do, since there are a few screws that can be removed with a socket kit.  I can probe, probably squirt some WD 40.  I'm trying not to make another trip to small engine repair, but depending on how I do with shoveling a small amount and difficulty trouble shooting the machine, that may be where I am headed.