Mower surging and blowing white smoke

[cadburryftw]

Hi everyone. I just bought a Scratch-n-Dent Cub Cadet CC800. I fired up the mower when I got it and it sounded awful. Lots of spuddering while idling. I decided to let it run a bit and see if anything would change and it ended up backfiring I believe and letting out a nice puff of white smoke. In the time it was running it felt awful, but at some point it actually felt like it was running how it was suppose too. I haven't gone out today to start taking anything apart but was hoping to get some ideas before I start tinkering.

Just to add this mower had .2 hours on it.

 

[Scrubcadet10]

Surging is usually caused by a lean condition, which means there's too much air entering the combustion chamber for the amount of fuel.
That can sometimes be a ripped or missing carburetor gasket. Or a fuel
Blockage.
White smoke usually indicates oil burning. Have you checked the oil level to be sure it isn't over full.
I can't find any parts for the engine in the parts diagrams. Probably a Chinese copy engine on it?