Why don't they all? Because their engineers figured out a much better recoil starter, instead of the one in your photos. Maybe they used Lock-tight, to keep the screw in place. I was referring to the newer type, not one like yours. Those type were used some years before i got into the lawn mower work. I can see why they changed the starting process. It looks like reassembling those starters was a mind-boggling process for the mechanics, and after a sea of complaints, they were changed to the type used later, with the metal cup on the crankshaft threaded end, under the hold-down nut! I can visualize the coiled spring suddenly flying out of position, as the mech tried to install the cover! I can also imagine the mechanic loosing his patience with it, and beating the machine to death with a BFH! (An SASE will bring the definition of a BFH, if you don't know what it is!) Rusty J.

Done! And not nearly as bad as I was expecting. Just a brief follow-up DIY for anyone that reads this and is thinking about doing it. I'm doing this from memory so ... I may miss a thing here or there. I'll try to break this down into a few parts. Removing the steering wheel. Removing the dash. Removing what I'll refer to as the battery tray. Removing the steering assembly. Installing the new assembly. What you'll need: New steering assembly Socket set 10" extension for your socket set (not required but it will make things much easier) Small hands Around 4-5 hours of time, maybe more, maybe less. But I think this is a good guess. Ok step 1 removing the wheel. Pretty easy. Remove the center cover of the wheel. This should just snap off. There is one nut holding the wheel on. Remove this. Remove the wheel. We're off to a good start haha. Under the wheel will be a metal bushing. This will need to come off. It may come off easy, it may require banging it with a hammer. But it should come up and off. Step 2 remove the battery. Disconnect the negative terminal first. Then the positive. Take the battery out. There is a little tray that captures battery run-off that the battery sets on, remove this as well. There is a little tube attached to the bottom, just disconnect and set aside. Step 3 removing the dash. Not too bad either. You may want to take some pictures of where all the wires go or label them with duct tape prior to removal. This will make things easier when putting everything back together. Remove the two wires running to the amp meter. Remove the two wires running to the light switch. There are two bolts holding the throttle on, remove these. Remove the little ball on top of the blade switch .. this just screws off. And remove the plug running to the key switch. Now, there are 4 bolts (2 on each side) holding the dash to the mower. Identify these and remove. Pull the dash off and set aside. Step 4. Removing the battery tray. No, not the runoff tray that was too easy. The battery tray is held on by I belive 6 bolts (3 on each side) possibly 8 I don't recall. Identify and remove. Now, the blade height knob needs to be disconnected. Before doing this, ensure the blade is pulled up using the blade lever? The lever on the left hand side which you can pull the blade up with. Now, follow the blade knob. There is a spring, and then it screws into something. You'll see what I mean. On the very end of the knob, past the part it screws into there is a pin to prevent you from unscrewing it completely. This needs to be removed. I straightened and then removed mine with a needle nose. This will take a little patience but it will come out. Just make sure not to drop it once you get it out. Now, you can unscrew the blade knob until it comes out. It won't come out of the battery tray and it doesn't need to, it just needs to be unscrewed. Hope this makes sense. Next, there is an electrical cable which will prevent you from removing the tray. This gave me the most trouble. You need to get enough slack in the cable so you can manuever it around the tray, yes this can be done. To do this I first disconnected the cable from the headlight in the front of the hood. Next I disconnected a few wires right where the positive battery wire comes out. There was a very small red wire which I disconnected. And two small wires with clips that I removed. You'll just have to find these, I can't explain where they go. All I can tell you is it's right by where the positive battery wire connects to the tractor. Now, you should be able to get enough slack to get the tray out. Step 5. Hopefully you've gotten the tray out and now should be staring face to face with the steering assembly. The assembly is held onto the base of the tractor by 4 bolts. This is where the 10" extension will make life easier. But first, disconnect the assembly from the rod that runs to the wheels. Again, unsure of the name but you can't miss it. There is a metal lever that runs out the bottom of the assembly and to the rod. This is held onto the rod by a nut and washer. Remove. This is where the small hands will come into play. Next, remove the 4 bolts holding the assembly to the tractor. Now, with some play, you should be able to slide the assembly off of the rod that runs to the wheels and off of the tractor. Step 6. Install the new steering assembly. Before attaching the assembly to the tractor, attach the lever to the rod that goes to the wheels with washer and nut. Next, fasten the assembly to the tractor with the 4 bolts. Make these as tight as you can. In the event they come lose, I don't think there is anyway to tighten them without completely removing the dash and tray again. Position the steering column so that you'll be able to slide the tray on. Step 7. Re-intall the tray. Slide it down the steering column, put the electrical cables back where they belong. Re-attach the little red wire, and the two other wires which were disconnected. Re-attach the blade height adjustment knob. Reinstall the pin on the end of the knob. Re-attach the bolts. Step 8. Re-install the dash. Re-attach the plug for the key/ignition. Re-attach the amp meter. Re-attach the light switch. Re-attach the throttle. Screw the knob back onto the blade engage switch. Re-attach the bolts that hold the dash on. Step 9. Attach the battery. Step 10. Attach the wheel. Step 11. Enjoy your tractor! Later!

I am not familiar with how the engine sits in your tractor but I expect the starter is inside the frame rails. The good news is you don't have to remove the flywheel. You will need to take the cooling shroud loose and slide it away from the engine so you can reach the two bolts holding the starter. One is easy to get to, the other is under the flywheel. A 1/2" open end wrench will do it. You may have to turn the flywheel to find a recess in the under side of it where the bolt can be lifted up and removed. Nimble fingers help. By the way, the starter of a 42 series B&S engine mounts the same regardless of whether it is horizontal or vertical. You didn't say WHY you were replacing the starter, burnt out, not enough power to turn engine (may be something else), starter gear worn out? Walt Conner

Probably hard to imagine, but you're making definite progress! You've eliminated the starter and solenoid and ignition switch. That's what troubleshooting is all about, "eliminate, eliminate, and finally you're there!" Now, IMHO, you're looking at a weak battery, did you load test it or have it done? Or, the engine isn't charging the battery after starting. Starting it two to three times would definitely draw down one of these little batteries. You have a meter, with the engine running, measure the + and - at the battery, you should have at least 13+ VDC at full throttle. If you're only reading 12VDC, that's battery terminal voltage which indicates no charging voltage. In other words, the battery is sitting there at 12Volts, the engine has to put more than 12Volts in to charge it. Report back on this reading and we can proceed to looking for a "leakage path" which is robbing charging current/ drawing down the battery. If there is no leakage path, then we look into the charging ciruit itself. Diodes or cowling mounted rectifier/chargers are relatively cheap. Hang in there. :-) Ev