Engine won't turn over using the key
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NorthBama
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First thing check the battery and battery connections. Make sure battery connections are clean and tight. Also post model number of mower and engine model number. Also there is a fuse that needs to be checked
bertsmobile1
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Think we could get a tad more info ?
Model , engine make & model would be a good start.
snapsstorer
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As Northbama said, those are the first things i would check. secondly, if that was not the problem check the wiring for any possibility of it shorting out against the framing. and also check the safety switches. A bad safety switch will not allow it to crank over. 
RLW_LT2138
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Maybe it is one of the interlock switches like the seat or brakes.
bertsmobile1
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55TBird
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I'm no mechanic but had a CCC Tank for 13 years and had many starting problems. I think my mower was possessed by a poltergeist.
If it clicks but won't turn, I'd make sure the battery isn't too run down. (I think mine at one point had a bad magneto or whatever charged the battery and I had to jump it to start it.) I'd also check the little wires on the starter/solenoid...not the big wires held on with a nut, but the little ones that just push onto a little flat lead thing. Several times I'd just jiggle those wires and that would be it.
if it won't even click, there is a relay between the key and starter that could be bad. Bad battery or bad connection at the battery could cause that. I guess if you can use a screw driver to connect the poles of the starter you can check the starter and battery at once....process of elimination.
Then there is the "Oops, my bad" scenario...where you realize the brake is not on or a handle is slightly in or your PTO switch is pulled up. That never happened to me though. *cough*
Good luck!
If it clicks but won't turn, I'd make sure the battery isn't too run down. (I think mine at one point had a bad magneto or whatever charged the battery and I had to jump it to start it.) I'd also check the little wires on the starter/solenoid...not the big wires held on with a nut, but the little ones that just push onto a little flat lead thing. Several times I'd just jiggle those wires and that would be it.
if it won't even click, there is a relay between the key and starter that could be bad. Bad battery or bad connection at the battery could cause that. I guess if you can use a screw driver to connect the poles of the starter you can check the starter and battery at once....process of elimination.
Then there is the "Oops, my bad" scenario...where you realize the brake is not on or a handle is slightly in or your PTO switch is pulled up. That never happened to me though. *cough*
Good luck!
bertsmobile1
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Before you start, pull the spark plug & try to rotate the engine by hand.
No use checking the electrics if you have a hydraulic lock, seized engine or jambed belt overloading the stater motor.
Assuming the engine turns freely.
I like to start from the starter motor and go backwards .
Do the following 5 tests, regardless of the results from an or all of them as there can be more than one problem and you want to isolate where the problem lies.
Elimination of individual parts is important so you know by the end, the battery, solenoid & heavy power circuits are all in good order.
1) try to jump the starter motor directly from your car or truck.
Starter turns = starter good
2) do the same directly from the mowers battery
Starter turns = mower battery good
No turn = duff battery, recharge it & try again.
3) check for voltage ( + 12V ) at the solenoid trigger wire with the key in start position
3a) same with ground trigger wire ( 4 wire solenoid ) or body of solenoid ( 3 wire solenoid)
( I like to test V from the battery hot terminal to ground terminal rather than ohms as they give funny readings )
4) leave ground jumper in place ( from step 2 ) & try key start.
Starter turns = power connection good but ground connection suspect ( most common )
Confirm it by trying again, extra ground removed
I run a secondary ground from the grounding bolt to one of the starter mounting bolts & paint over both with liquid electrical tape.
5) Remove the trigger ( thin ) wire / wires from the solenoid.
Ground one & bridge from the hot terminal to the other.
Starter cranks = solenoid good.
Solenoid is not polarity sensitive, BUT THE WIRING IS so make sure you remove the thin control wires.
Note a thinner wire on the hot terminal is not a control wire. It is the main power feed to the mower.
From here on things become very mower dependant as starting circuits are getting changed all the time.
Basically the power goes in a loop from the hot side of the solenoid ( saves wire, no other reason ) through the fuse to the B terminal on the key switch then to the PTO switch then to the parking brake switch then to the solenoid trigger switch , easy peasy after you grow the 3rd arm. Use a test lamp and follow the power.
However a lot of mowers with a 4 pole solenoid, run a secondary ground control circuit to the ground solenoid wire through the lap bars.
Then to stop this interfearing with the normal safety function of the ground kill, it goes to a relay with the ground as the switched connection.
These are a PIA as the + control wire to the relay comes from the power loop above and the ground side of the control comes via the normal cut out functions of the lap bars.
Be very careful because if you have a system like this and accidentally send 12V down the ground loop you can fry the magnetos on some circuits.
No use checking the electrics if you have a hydraulic lock, seized engine or jambed belt overloading the stater motor.
Assuming the engine turns freely.
I like to start from the starter motor and go backwards .
Do the following 5 tests, regardless of the results from an or all of them as there can be more than one problem and you want to isolate where the problem lies.
Elimination of individual parts is important so you know by the end, the battery, solenoid & heavy power circuits are all in good order.
1) try to jump the starter motor directly from your car or truck.
Starter turns = starter good
2) do the same directly from the mowers battery
Starter turns = mower battery good
No turn = duff battery, recharge it & try again.
3) check for voltage ( + 12V ) at the solenoid trigger wire with the key in start position
3a) same with ground trigger wire ( 4 wire solenoid ) or body of solenoid ( 3 wire solenoid)
( I like to test V from the battery hot terminal to ground terminal rather than ohms as they give funny readings )
4) leave ground jumper in place ( from step 2 ) & try key start.
Starter turns = power connection good but ground connection suspect ( most common )
Confirm it by trying again, extra ground removed
I run a secondary ground from the grounding bolt to one of the starter mounting bolts & paint over both with liquid electrical tape.
5) Remove the trigger ( thin ) wire / wires from the solenoid.
Ground one & bridge from the hot terminal to the other.
Starter cranks = solenoid good.
Solenoid is not polarity sensitive, BUT THE WIRING IS so make sure you remove the thin control wires.
Note a thinner wire on the hot terminal is not a control wire. It is the main power feed to the mower.
From here on things become very mower dependant as starting circuits are getting changed all the time.
Basically the power goes in a loop from the hot side of the solenoid ( saves wire, no other reason ) through the fuse to the B terminal on the key switch then to the PTO switch then to the parking brake switch then to the solenoid trigger switch , easy peasy after you grow the 3rd arm. Use a test lamp and follow the power.
However a lot of mowers with a 4 pole solenoid, run a secondary ground control circuit to the ground solenoid wire through the lap bars.
Then to stop this interfearing with the normal safety function of the ground kill, it goes to a relay with the ground as the switched connection.
These are a PIA as the + control wire to the relay comes from the power loop above and the ground side of the control comes via the normal cut out functions of the lap bars.
Be very careful because if you have a system like this and accidentally send 12V down the ground loop you can fry the magnetos on some circuits.