Electrical Problem

[Ltmt]

I have a Hustler Fastrac with 17 hp Kohler. For the past several years I have just been jump the mower off as it will not charge the battery. Recently it stopped jumping off when the jumpbox was hooked directly to the battery. From there I went to jumping it off by going directly to the starter. This worked but I decided to put a new battery on it with intentions of keeping it charged with a trickle charger. Last week I was mowing and when I turned the motor off the starter was spinning but the bendix was not engaging the fly wheel. I put another starter on the motor and that stopped that. Then when I went to hook the negative cable back up to the battery the starter engaged the fly wheel as if it was going to start the motor. If I turned the key on the motor would start. If I took the cable off the negative post the motor would continue to run till I turned the ignition key off. Later in the day when I was ready to use the mower I tried to start it by just turning the ignition key on and touching the negative post with the negative cable. Nothing happened. No click or anything. Mind you this is a brand new battery that has never been used except the few times I started as described above.
Any suggestions as to what has happened to my Hustler. I have been told the relay is back or the resistor. Electrical is not my strong point.
Please help.

 

[bertsmobile1]

I have a Hustler Fastrac with 17 hp Kohler. For the past several years I have just been jump the mower off as it will not charge the battery. Recently it stopped jumping off when the jumpbox was hooked directly to the battery. From there I went to jumping it off by going directly to the starter. This worked but I decided to put a new battery on it with intentions of keeping it charged with a trickle charger. Last week I was mowing and when I turned the motor off the starter was spinning but the bendix was not engaging the fly wheel. I put another starter on the motor and that stopped that. Then when I went to hook the negative cable back up to the battery the starter engaged the fly wheel as if it was going to start the motor. If I turned the key on the motor would start. If I took the cable off the negative post the motor would continue to run till I turned the ignition key off. Later in the day when I was ready to use the mower I tried to start it by just turning the ignition key on and touching the negative post with the negative cable. Nothing happened. No click or anything. Mind you this is a brand new battery that has never been used except the few times I started as described above.
Any suggestions as to what has happened to my Hustler. I have been told the relay is back or the resistor. Electrical is not my strong point.
Please help.

I could say you are your own worst enemy but you already know that.
So lets start with the battery, a nice fully charged one.
Then follow both of the cables.
Remove both of them , hold them by the terminals and try to pull them apart.
If you feel the cables "give" then replace them, if not clean the terminals and where the terminals fit onto the mower, use a nice new clean bolt for the ground and after tightening, paint over with liquid electrical tape.
Next we need to know which Kohler engine you have as some have a piggy back solenoid while others use a remote solenoid.

In either case there will be a small wire, usually blue coloured.
This wire is the trigger wire and should show 0 V till you turn the key to start so check it with a voltmeter.

As you are getting no response from the engine at all chances are the fuse is blown.
The thin red wire that is connected to the heavy red cable from the battery is the power feed to the rest of the engine and will have fuse on it.
'Follow the wire and replace the fuse, even if it looks good.
have a close look at the fuse holder, good chance it will be burned or melted, if so replace it as well.

Dpending upon how the mower is wired, running without a functioning alternator can burn out the ignition switch but we need to sort the starter out first.