I am a farmer by trade, but I enjoy tinkering with mowers and small engines. My puzzle at present is a safety switch malfunction. The mower will start fine, but as soon as the clutch is released or the blades are engaged, it dies immediately. I have checked both switches with a continuity tester and both check good. They will only plug in one way, so I know they are plugged right. Also, on the same mower, when the blades are engaged, the engine sputters and misses for probably 20 seconds and then finally smooths out. I suspect that these are two separate issues.