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Mowed the lawn today, everything seemed to work fine. Stopped to use leaf blower to blow off dust and debris and the mower would not restart. I used a battery pack to jump start with no problems but the PTO does not work as it should. Occasionally I could get it to engage but if I turned it off it wouldn't engage again and would bog the engine down.

I tested the battery with an old fashioned load tester and it shows that the battery is bad. For the battery to go bad was somewhat expected because it is the original battery. I guess something internal broke while mowing.

What concerns me is the PTO not engaging. Could this be related to a bad battery?

I didn't have a lot of time to troubleshoot but I did ohm the seat switch and it seems to be operating correctly. I checked all switches thinking the leaf blower might have disconnected something. The wiring connections that I checked seemed to be good and no loose or disconnected wires were found.

I hate to buy a new battery at the end of mowing season but I will have to mow several more times.

Any chance a new battery will take care of the PTO engaging as well as the starting problem or are these problems unrelated?

You PTO runs off the power produced by your stater. If the battery is taking all the power to recharge it then the PTO will not work. It could be the stater not working but the battery has to be changed first. With battery changed and engine started and at wide open throttle you should have 13.8 + or - at the battery terminals. If all it well you can go and mow.

BlazNT said:

You PTO runs off the power produced by your stater. If the battery is taking all the power to recharge it then the PTO will not work. It could be the stater not working but the battery has to be changed first. With battery changed and engine started and at wide open throttle you should have 13.8 + or - at the battery terminals. If all it well you can go and mow.

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Thanks BlazNT! The battery went dead while I was mowing and will not hold a charge which makes me think something internally broke due to the vibration over a period of years. I take the battery out in the winter and keep it on a trickle charger. This spring when I checked the battery with a load tester it tested borderline. Thought I would get as much out of it as possible and almost made a season. Didn't think about not being able to engage the PTO after jump starting due to low voltage.

Shouldn't surprise me though as I have seen cars do some strange things when the batteries get weak.

Think I will take the cowling off the top of the engine and make sure there is not a lot of dirt/dust around the stator. We've had a pretty dry year and dust could be reducing the efficiency.

Thanks again!

https://www.simplicitymfg.com/na/en_us/search.html?searchrequested=5900774
see page 34 for PTO clutch adjustment

first check wire harness connection at PTO clutch, you may need to adjust PTO air gap with feeler gauge & wrench