I have a MTD 17.5 HP riding mower. When I start the engine it sound like there is a large amount of gas going to the engine thena small amount. I removed the air filter and gas filled the area where the air filter set. I figure my problem is in the carb. Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks

Drain the tank and add a small amount of Seafoam carb cleaner. See if it will run through, When the gas stops, mix a small amount in I the right proportions with gas and try to get it to run.

Otherwise the carb has to be taken apart and cleaned. Basically the fuel valve has to be cleaned. It's sticking because it was stored with gas in the carb. The fuel valve might be all you have to clean.

MTD Products Landing Page has manuals with model and serial. Briggs has manuals online as well. They are no instruction. Just owners and parts breakdown.

I drain the tank of gas then replace with small amount of gas and the carb cleaner which I take is a liquid carb cleaner. I have only dealt with spray carb cleaners. If this doesn't work, I have the carb removed and cleaned. Right?

Basically. The only area that needs to be repaired in the carb is the float valve or diaphram valve.

Post the model and serial and I'll look on MTDonline.com.
If it's a Briggs engine, post the model and type.

Drained the tank, filled the line going to the carb with cleaner plus left a little gas which I added carb cleaner to. Let engine run for a minutes then shut off for 5 minutes and restarted. At first it was kind of sluggish but seem to get better. Would advise to stay away from exhaust for first few minutes. Will run fir a few days, next step would be to have carb dismantled and cleaned.

Thanks for the help

Next time let the mix run out until the engine stops on its own. You don't really want to leave a high percentage of carb cleaner in the lines, but you will probably be fine just filling the tank as usual.

From now on, near the end of the season get gas and add a can of Sta-bil to the fresh gas. Always use high octane gasoline too.