Steering wheel stops tractor from stalling?

bertsmobile1 said:

So the logical thing to do is to go back and carry out the two tests asked for in post # 5.

To put a really silly spin on things but hopefullly illustrative.
Pulling up on the wheel and moving back in the seat changes the weight distribution on the mower, combined with a slightly underinflated rear left tyre causes the mower to tilt ever so slightly which changes the angle on the float bowl allowing the float which is just fouling on a badly cut gasket to free itself and cut off the fuel at the proper height.

I could come up with a dozen or more such but I would hope just one will suffice.

Mysterious problems can always be fixed by going back to the basics.
And when going back to the basics identifies what is really causing the problem you then look at the mower to try & understand what pulling on the wheel was actually doing.

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In most cases that would be true. But to be completely oblivious to something that you discovered to have a direct correlation to the mitigating of a problem would be what? Reckless, stupid or Ignorant? I could come up with a dozen or more such but I would hope just one will suffice. I never deviated from "the basics" I merely pointed out items that were worth mentioning. And I was able to find a piece to place in the end of the solenoid to keep it from extending. Which, turns out is not the problem. And yet another day spent with my tester going from connection to connection. Oddly enough, I did notice that, (i'm not making this up) the onset of stalling is significantly more prevalent when turning to the right, not left (uphill primarily). And to save you from accusing me of another asinine, concocted brilliant diagnosis, I'm not claiming that the tractor can be fixed by pushing on the steering wheel and only making nascar turns (left).

jtnewhouse said:

In most cases that would be true. But to be completely oblivious to something that you discovered to have a direct correlation to the mitigating of a problem would be what? Reckless, stupid or Ignorant? I could come up with a dozen or more such but I would hope just one will suffice. I never deviated from "the basics" I merely pointed out items that were worth mentioning. And I was able to find a piece to place in the end of the solenoid to keep it from extending. Which, turns out is not the problem. And yet another day spent with my tester going from connection to connection. Oddly enough, I did notice that, (i'm not making this up) the onset of stalling is significantly more prevalent when turning to the right, not left (uphill primarily). And to save you from accusing me of another asinine, concocted brilliant diagnosis, I'm not claiming that the tractor can be fixed by pushing on the steering wheel and only making nascar turns (left).

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Here's another dipschitt guess from me ...... Check your ENGINE MOUNTING fasteners .... who knows ..??? ...:confused2:

jtnewhouse said:

In most cases that would be true. But to be completely oblivious to something that you discovered to have a direct correlation to the mitigating of a problem would be what? Reckless, stupid or Ignorant? I could come up with a dozen or more such but I would hope just one will suffice. I never deviated from "the basics" I merely pointed out items that were worth mentioning. And I was able to find a piece to place in the end of the solenoid to keep it from extending. Which, turns out is not the problem. And yet another day spent with my tester going from connection to connection. Oddly enough, I did notice that, (i'm not making this up) the onset of stalling is significantly more prevalent when turning to the right, not left (uphill primarily). And to save you from accusing me of another asinine, concocted brilliant diagnosis, I'm not claiming that the tractor can be fixed by pushing on the steering wheel and only making nascar turns (left).

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At least we can both face this with a sense of humour.
If you really want help to sort this out I really require the two tests asked for in post 5 to be carried out.
As was mentioned, electrically there only 2 things that will cause the engine to faulter one is the kill wire & the fuel solenoid.
Isolating it to one or the other or neither then points us towards where to look.
I am sure you are familiar with the old mechanics adage ,
Most fuel faults are found in the ignition & most ignition problems are found in the carburettor.

It would take you less time to do those tests than I have spent answering your post.
Now I am not ignoring any observations.
If there was a known connection you would have been the first person to be told.
Considering that it is the beginning of the season, and the fault seems to have physical triggers then I would suspect a bare kill wire under the blower housing a bit chewed up by what was living in there over winter flopping about in the breeze and making random ground contacts.
The second thought would be the same thing happening to a kill wire under the turret .

And once again if you did as requested back in post 5 this would have been revealed.

1) lack of power to the fuel solenoid - took of and used the tip off a finishing nail to keep plunger contracted, replaced, nothing changed.
2) grounding of the magneto kill wire. - tested cleaned, grinded connections/wire brushed, reconnected, no change.

Although it tested fine i'm going to replace the PTO switch. It's the only thing that can explain what happens to the tractor. I'll know if that was it in about an hour or 2.

jtnewhouse said:

1) lack of power to the fuel solenoid - took of and used the tip off a finishing nail to keep plunger contracted, replaced, nothing changed.
2) grounding of the magneto kill wire. - tested cleaned, grinded connections/wire brushed, reconnected, no change.

Although it tested fine i'm going to replace the PTO switch. It's the only thing that can explain what happens to the tractor. I'll know if that was it in about an hour or 2.

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You were asked to REMOVE the magneto ground wire, not clean the contacts.
If you remember I suggested you run a wire from the magnet to the controls so you could ground the magneto when you finished mowing to test if it was in the kill wire circuit.

Well having passed the fuel solenoid test looks very much like it will be in the ground circuit.
Usually it is best to find the actual problem first before you go spending money.

bertsmobile1 said:

You were asked to REMOVE the magneto ground wire, not clean the contacts.
If you remember I suggested you run a wire from the magnet to the controls so you could ground the magneto when you finished mowing to test if it was in the kill wire circuit.

Well having passed the fuel solenoid test looks very much like it will be in the ground circuit.
Usually it is best to find the actual problem first before you go spending money.

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Wellllll it' sorta like this ........

I messed up on not removing the wire, all you had to say.

As for wasting the money on a part...The PTO and ignition switches were always finicky ever since I got the tractor. The PTO switch would get hung up from time to time in between open and closed to the point that it'll take playing with the switch for small period of time to get the contacts to free up. So, replacing that switch was neither a waste of money (especially since it was only 2 paychecks worth of money for Boobola - $14), nor was it intended to be the eureka moment fixes everything. I wasn't saying that replacing the PTO switch was some brilliant idea, similar to using a drawing with text to speak for me... I was just saying that was the last "part", "I", as in me, personally, could think that might possess a functional that could possibly fit the things that were wrong with the tractor.

Typically, it's better to first understand the question prior to answering it.

Simmer down jt, I'm here to piss people off, it's a job that was handed down to me .... when you're in the middle of a "head-scratcher" it's always good to pull back and at least smile about something, it's a thing about about clearing the snot outa your sinuses so ya can think better ! ..:laughing:..:laughing:

Just a thought here of what I would do...if you can get it running again lift the hood and start moving wires around by hand, especially any near the steering gear and where you said they went out of sight.
That might reveal a break in a wire somewhere or a bad ground.

Just got done fixing a mower with a similar problem. Push back on seat and engine runs fine. It was in the wiring harness for the seat switch grounding every once and a while. When moving the seat with the butt it would allow the wire to move just a little. Liquid black tape and moving wiring harness fixed the problem. I had to lift the seat pan to find this.