craftsman 917 starts rough and wont stay running

Got a craftsman model 917 as a toy to mess around on just hooked a foot pedal up and and getting a smaller rear pulley soon. But it starts horribly and just randomly shuts off on me. Its a 18 hp twin kohler motor. It almost seems to be out of gas and just dies on me. Also is a delay with throttle i can rev it up and takes a second to hit high rpm...
Could it be a safety switch somewhere or is it fuel related
Any ideas what i could do?

Hummmm....does it start right back up?Sounds like a fuel issue.Check fuel filter?Does it have a fuel pump?Check fuel flow on carb side of pump.Also try running it without fuel cap....may not be venting.jc

checked filter and fuel runs through it fine. Doesnt start back up for awhile even with ether. Recently took air filter off and seems to be running good but does die once and awhile but not near as often as it did

rebuild carburetor