Sounds like you are Stating that the Engine Started or Engine compartment began Smoking ? Which ? What Colour White , Blue , Black ? Do you have fuel , and spark at the engine , what condition are the plugs and fuel & air filter ? I think you are saying engine is turning over (cranking) but not firing correct ? You may even have a fusible link causing a potential no spark condition or a Blown Head Gasket causing low compression or a simple as dirty air filter causing rich black smoke under load , even with a Newer Tractor ! More Detail Please !!

It cranked and I was mowing, it started dying that's when I saw WHITE smoke around the motor area. Fuel filter is good, air filter was just replaced 2 weeks ago, yes it is getting spark when trying to crank..

Well if it,s white then either oil level overfilled and blowing back into breather or overflowing onto muffler , or broken push rod and oil (smoke) from exhaust , other wise head gasket or sump gasket failure . Can you see where the smoke is coming from by removing the engine cowl ? Trying to determine wether smoke is internal or external issue lol .

No because once mower died, it hasn't re cranked. The smoke was brief because it died quickly. There was a smell that made me think a belt broke, it was also brief, checked belts all good. It happened so fast but it appeared like the smoke was coming from under engine and frame, and rising up. A little back up history, changed oil, filter, oil filter. Mowed twice, the second time I had some missing under load, not real bad but still a miss, 3rd time mowing no miss what so ever. This is the 4th mowing today..it was running great til I stopped and re started, then less than 10 seconds smoke and it died. It is under warranty but if it's something minor I want worry with calling them, beings appointment time is 3 weeks out (I checked).

Thank you for your time. I will give them a call.

No Problem , please get back to us with the final resolution !

consider the warranty on new equipment.

since the mower is only 5 - 6 months old, the craftsman warranty should apply for parts and labor. If you attempt to fix, craftsman will probably void the warranty.

Do not expect a local lawnmower dealer to honor the craftsman warranty.

UPDATE, it was the fuel solenoid, something caused it to get extremely hot..warranty of course covered it, the tech changed out the whole carb system. If I wasn't under warranty it would have been close to $400. The actual part, fuel solenoid sells for $20.40 at sears. And when you call the warranty dept you get conflicting info from every person you talk to..I finally demanded to talk to the trouble shooting dept, now they were some great help. P.S. We had already diagnosed the problem before tech came.

Thank you all for your help!!

Great to Hear . Good for you making the Tuff Stand when they attempted the Old Run Around . Apparently the solenoid shorted out , happy no fire after the fact . Thanks for updating us ! :)