My battery died with no warning and now it will not charge at all.I can jumpstart it,pull the pto switch and sometimes blades wil start turning and sometimes they won't.If they do turn,it only lasts a few minutes and all at once they just stop turning as if you disengaged them,then if i don't disengage the pto,it kills the engine.The blades and pulleys,etc are not in a bind or anything and turn freely.But if the blades don't turn when you engage the pto,the engine will stop as if you had turned off the ignition.If they do happen to start turning,it will only last a few minutes. The electric pto clutch is kicking in because with the pto switch engaged i can turn the ignition as if i were trying to start it and you can here the clutch click.Of course i know the engine wont start with the pto engaged.I tried turning the ignition on with the pto switch pulled up just to see if the clutch would click.Also,as i said,the battery isn't charging whatsoever.Could this all boil down to a bad alternator?
You may hav a bad alt. problem with the mower dying when you engage the pto is most likley a bad sensor or wire unplugged on the seat sensor.the way it works is if the blades are turning and it dosent sense you being on the seat the mower shuts down.this has been standard on mowers for quite a few years now. it keeps the blades from cutting you up if you fall off the seat while mowing. as for charging i would try cleaning the battery connections and get the battery checked first.
Normal charging circuit is alternator to regulator, to ignition switch, to ammeter (if equipped), to fuse to battery.
First thing I would check is the condition of the + battery terminal. (If it's corroded, difficult to take charge.) Also take a look at the terminal where the "-" cable connects to the tractor frame. Then check the in-line fuse.
The ignition switch could be going bad (older tractors), or possibly bad wiring. Do a visual check.
On the ignition switch, terminal "A" runs to the alternator, "B" to battery.
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i have the exact same prob.. my bettery has been dead for a while so ive been jumpstarting it all summer.. i bypassed the pto switch and direct wired it to the battery and toggle switch and it works and it works most the time but ocassionally kicks off while momwing and kills the mower still. im going to try a new battery and go from there.
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