Mower blades start an stop on Dixon zero turn 42 in deck

get a test light, this will make troubleshooting alot easier. check seat switch,stick,neutral,guard and the power in and out of the key. 6 12V Circuit Tester with 5 ft Lead

Elertric blade drive clutches are a real pain when they go wrong
It sounds like a electrical short is causing the wires inside the switch to heat up beyond the safe melting point thereafter five mins the circuit gets between the fault gets broken as the switch fails the blades stop and the switch melts a bad eaRth corroded may cause this check the deck safety switches are not exposed e.g. they been damaged and the decks metal is shorting them out
a wire has been stripped of protective covering and is touching some metal shorting out something that vital to the blade controls operation the switch is getting a overload and subsequently melting your might need an lawnmower engineer to diagnose to the fault fully and repair

switches on the seat, blade engagement lever and clutch/brake pedal

sounds lie it's starving for gas.
Does this engine have a fuel pump or is the gas gravity fed???
Some engines this size do have fuel pumps.
I'd also take the bowl off the carburetor and check the Jet.

check for spark is the wire on the spark plug is the plug good check for fuel flow possible electrical short

check the safety switches bypass them one at a time to find the bad one the seat the clutch/brake pedal the pto lever

sounds like one or more of the pulley bearings is frozen or turning very hard just jack up the mower and check each pulley how easy it turns replace bad one hope this helps

safety switch,probably seat.

The PTO switch contacts to operate the clutch that starts the blades is defective. I have replaced mine and the new one just failed again. Sears must know this is a defect problem but so far they are quiet about the problem

There's a safety shut-off switch below the seat, so when you're seated the switch is engaged. If you were to fall off the mower, the engine and Blades stop (safety feature).
Check the switch to see if it's operational.
Beyond that, mower may need a tune up or servicing, if it is not starting.