Fuse?
Jumper 12V directly to the solenoid and see what happens.

Do you have a voltmeter?

Fuse looks good, but will try that.
I have a voltmeter. There is no draw on the battery when I turn the ignition. That lead me to replacing starter/key switch.
Can you detail jumping 12V to the solenoid? Never done that b4. Solenoid is very hard to get to.

You use a wire from battery+ to the solenoid terminal.
Go to the terminal from the "crank" wire first. If the engine cranks, the solenoid & starter are good.
You are just bypassing the "crank" wire from the ignition switch.
You need something like a car jumper cable to go directly to the starter motor terminal.

there is a safty switch asociated with the shift lever
wigle that around also if it has the Kawasaki engine
buy several plugs that motor eats them like candy

do you have juice to the starter soleinde if not its
either in the switch or the battery leads if you have

juice to the solinode (sp) it has to be a safety switch
either under the seat or in the shift lever

I do remember last year I needed to jiggle the shift lever to crank it, but this year it didn't make a difference. Where is the switch to the shift lever? I will try jumping the solenoid later today and report back. Thanks to all for the advice.
Jim

Jump directly to starter from battery started the engine. Seat switch works as it should. Could find no switch activated from shift lever. The only switch visible is on the blade engagement lever. Where is the switch to the shift lever?

"Where is the switch to the shift lever?"
Got me:-)

I don't know what transmission that has but at least some Peerless trans. have neutral safety switches.
look down there for a wire or 2.
If it has one, sometimes screwing the switch in some more can help it make contact.

Bill/All:
You were 100% correct! It is a peerless transmission. I jacked it up, and found the switch. It was caked with dried mud, grass and dirt. Slid it off, cleaned it well and viola! I have crank!
Thanks a ton!

Now I can cut the grass :(

Jim

Great!

i have the same problem - can you tell me more specifically where to find the switch.

Hello, folks. I hate to revive this dead horse, but I'm having the same problem described in this thread -- again.

The starter on my John Deere RX-75 is refusing to turn over again, unless I happen to catch it in the right mood. It fires off fine when I walk by and flip the key in the garage. But sometimes it doesn't after I've turned off the motor -- usually with half of the yard still to cut.

I've fiddled with the shift lever to make sure it's in neutral, and I've checked all the wiring that I can see. Any other ideas?

When this happened last year, I tried some of the tricks mentioned here. I thought one of them must have worked, because the mower straightened up and cranked right.

Last summer I took the mower to a John Deere dealer after this happened. It cranked like a new mower in the shop, of course, so I figured (hoped) they had cleared up whatever the problem was. No such luck.

I am having the same problem I think, will start in neutral but quits as soon as I put it in any gear even though the clutch is depressed. I took out the peerless transmission safety switch and cleaned it. It is normally closed push the stainless ball and you have continuity every time. Put it back in and same thing it dies as soon as you shift out of neutral either direction. Not screwed in far enough or a different switch giving me trouble? I also added 90 weight gear lube thru the hole as it looked pretty dry. Is there a fill hole on this trans I'm not seeing?

rx 73 no spark....changed coil,,dead no spark

http://www.greentractortalk.com/forums/lawn-garden-tractors/13449-srx75-no-spark-weak-spark.html

I have a john Deere sx75 will start and run fine. But when I got to put in reverse or forward it just dies. What can it be??