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I can release the parking brake, but then it remains in the down position - even using more force than I am comfortable with. Obviously, now I am unable to start the mower. I can't find any information online about adjusting this brake; the parts manual diagram isn't much help in figuring this out. This is the only piece of equipment I own that I don't have a shop manual for (including my cars), and it is very frustrating!

Sounds like one of the cables # 15 & # 16 above is binding, probably rusted
However everything needs some lube with lithium spray grease
In particular # 9 which appears to be a latch
Remove the bolt # 19 that holds both of the cables on then see if the pedal moves as it should
If yes then one at a time connect each cable and see how they go
If one moves & the other does not then undo the bad one at the brake end
Moves properly = bad brake mechanism still does not move = bad cable

There was no evidence of binding; rather, the mechanism appeared to be blocked from moving at all. I spent a long time yesterday trying to troubleshoot it. What seemed to be the issue was that the bell crank (and associated linkage) was sitting in such a way that the linkage was trying to pull straight down - when it should have been offset enough to allow the crank to rotate (hard to explain without visual aids). I removed the brake arm/lever and the bolt holding the bell crank, looking for wear in the bushings, etc. I found nothing amiss. After over an hour trying to reassemble the whole mess (the linkage was keyed to its respective holes in a way that didn't allow each part to be put in place - it all had to go in at once!), the damn thing started working...

I've been around long enough to know that I didn't "fix" anything, so the problem will likely return. At least I got to cut the grass, though! The brake operated fine throughout. Fingers crossed.