I fix and trade in a lot of gas powered things. Anything that has not been ran in a while, and especially if it was parked outside, needs the carb disassembled and cleaned. I find a lot of small engines have the needle varnished into the seat. Generally just a good sprat cleaner, I prefer Berryman's B12, sprayed through all the passages and blown down with air, and clean the obvious crud, put it back together and good to go. I don't even bother with a kit unless the gaskets are toast.
I also always run in any adjusting screws and count the number of turns, then remove so the passage can be blown out.