Ok guys ,,newbie here ,,but not new to small engines or mechanics of them..,,heres what i have,,got an older Craftsman lawn tractor was originally a 12 hp model that just quit last winter while it was ideling warming up before doing some snow plowing..motor locked up tight ..so deceided to just put it away until nicer weather,,well i was just about ready to break down and buy a new mower when i came across a 18 hp twin Briggs + stratton motor for 40 bucks and figured what the heck it might work,,so brought it home and to my surprise not much of a change over project,,a little rewiring ,,a pulley change and some hood modifications and it was running,,ran great.. cut great..really a nice smooth running motor and it started better that the 12 hp ever did .. was working on some fine tuning of the carb ..went to start it after i shut it off and seen sparks from the starter area..tried to restart it and just a clicking at the solenoid..tried jumping the 2 main leads and just clicks,,tapped the starter with a hammer and seen some sparking at and around the starter and where it mounts.. but it wouldn't turn over ,,flywheel turns easy by hand ..well i should say it turns without any binding ,,while doing the changove i started it at least a dozen times with no problem.. but the one time it.. looked like a pretty good spark came from the starter area..no open wires anywhere and connection are tight..the solenoid just clicks,,battery is new yesterday,,needed a new one anyway..so i'm guessing it's a starter issue..i checked the solenoid with a multi meter and have voltage at the spade terminal when grounded,,is there a way to check the starter itself?? before i invest in a new one? can they be rebuilt?are brushes available..and could it be a brush issue? starter will turn by hand but seems to be a little rough turning,,sorry for the long post but figured i'd try to cover the basics and what i did and when the problem started..so to say..lol..thanks in advance and a great forum for us weekend tractor warriors!

curt_i