I got a call from one of my customers. He said the mower deck wouldn't go down. The blades turned, but the deck refused to lower. So, i went over to his place and looked at it. I found the knob that controls the height of the deck was turned all the way to "high" and it never got close to the grass! This was also a Craftsman tractor mower. I think his kids must of messed with it, to harass him. When i was around ten or so years of age, our Uncle would take me, my brother, and several cousins to town for ice cream and "pop". He drove an old Hudson/Terraplane make of car, and it had an electric shift controller on it, and had a removable floor shifter handle, which could be used for when the battery was low! He'd always go into the tobacco shop, so us kids would stay in the car. And of course, we'd bug him in all kinds of ways. We'd shut off the electric shift and hide the floor shifter handle, and he'd cuss a blue streak since he couldn't make the car move without it!

Usually, this might be caused by a problem in the seat switch circuitry, and your scenario sounds consistent with that. Check that the wires have not come unplugged from the seat switch, or that the seat switch itself has not become detached or loose in its mount. It is possible that the PTO switch (blades engage switch) has failed. It is also possible that the PTO clutch (on end of engine crankshaft undet the tractor) is in need of adjustment. Start with the seat switch considerations first, they are the simplest to do. Report back what you find and we'll continue on, or stop and applaud, whichever is appropriate (we eventually get to the applause, we hope :^)

yardman1081- RUN (don't walk) with that power washer to the nearest trash can and give it a quick toss. Worst thing you could EVER turn loose on a lawn tractor. Use compressed air or leaf blower instead. M/W, remove spark plug(s) and crank engine - Observe if liquid is expelled out spark plug hole(s). If so, continue cranking engine until no more liquid is seen coming out - replace plug(s). Immediately drain/replace crankcase oil and filter as most likely water has entered crankcase. Remove air cleaner and allow cleaner element to dry - if wet from water. Allow ALL engine components to dry completely also. Using RATTLECAN CARB CLEANER, spray several shots directly into carb throat while assistant is cranking engine in a normal fashion (1/2 throttle, no choke, PTO off, Cl/Brake pedal fully depressed). Engine should start/run. If not, post back with details and we will go from there. Note: your starter motor most likely hangs like a "pail" and will catch/hold water from that washer - don't know if it has a drain hole or not. Just hope it does...

Allthumbs, this seems to be a rather common occurence on this family of Craftsman LTs. The Craftsman Owner's Manuals just barely mention that a "Blade brake" might be featured and even at that I find only one clue alluding to a blade brake. That clue being found on page 47 is item #142, dyslexically described "Arm Spring Brake Mower" (Mower brake spring arm, for those that don't spell or read backward). The OMs are also no help in determining how the blade brake mechanism operates. Could you possibly take some pictures of the idler pulleys from a couple of feet away (and from different angles) and either post them here, or send them to me in an e-mail. It would also help if you could take shots with the blade lever in the engaged mode, and also with it disengaged, so I can see the relative change of position of the mechanism. DO NOT run the engine for the pictures, just move the engaging lever. I would appreciate if you can do this because I'm sure the issue will surface again for another owner. If you can't do this, perhaps another member who owns one of these LTs can accomplish getting some pics posted or sent to me in e-mail.