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

I purchased a 24" Arien Deluxe Platinum snowblower in October.  We just recently had our first snowfall.  The machine started up great but when I went to shut it down, 2 things happened:
1. The engine began to backfire.  A loud bang occurred and a flame came out of the exhaust.
2. When I tried to restart the warm engine, it would not start.  I had to re-open the choke, prime the unit, and then pull about 4-5 times before it started.  In addition, a thick cloud of white smoke came out of the exhaust then.

I emailed Ariens about the problem.  They told me to let the unit idle at low speed before shutting it down.  I did that but the same problem occurred.  So, they told me to take it to the dealer, which I'm going to do this week.  I did add some fuel stabilizer into the fuel tank.  Would that be causing the backfiring?

Figuring that I paid $1500 Canadian + 13% tax on the unit, I'm kinda of disappointed to see this happen.

Any ideas as to what is happening?