Assuming that your battery cable connections are good, if the engine fails to turn thru compression, I would suspect that the valves need adjusting. Excessive clearance in the Exhaust Valve prevents the Compression Release from working properly and these engines will not turn over without the Compression Release working. Most of these mowers now days have lights run off the AC section of the alternator so lights will not work without the engine running. Use a jumper between the positive battery cable and the small terminal on the starter solenoid, does the solenoid click? Does the engine turn over? If so, the problem is in saftey switchs since you have already replaced the ignition switch. IF no click, no starter action, the solenoid is likely bad but before replacing it, jump directly to the starter terminal from a known good battery to make sure the starter is not bad. Still suspect valves need adjusting, I have detailed instructions from a previous post for adjusting valves IF you would like them Walt Conner wconner5@verizon.net

Mookylama, When the truck arrives and you get off loaded, have a razor knife on hand (box cutter does not reach through the heavy cardboard), a claw hammer and catspaw to pull the top braces off and a couple of planks or plywood, the trucking company that delivered mine used a second pallet to move it on the pallet jack, between that and the overinflated tires I had to hoist it up and place planks under to roll it off the factory pallet. Probably will not get moving till next week sometime, mine made it from SC to CA in 48 hours! Well then it sat over memorial day in a freight depot till the local trucker delivered it tuesday. Checked the oil level, battery was already connected, added fuel and left it sit a few min with the key in run position (not sure if it has a fuel valve), put the throttle to choke and it fired right up after 3-4 short cranks. Make sure to follow the manual to purge the transmission, other than that it's good to go. I added the Sears front scoop to mine to move dirt and rocks around, it's a direct bolt on, both Husqvarna and Sears sell the same scoop made by Agri-Fab so I suspect whatever fits a Husqvarna YT2042 will fit the Ariens, I called a Husqvarna dealer the other day about wheel weights and he confirmed the bolt holes in the Husqvarna were 4-5/8" centers so I may order a pair. Ariens seems to not list any accesories and LOL the nearest Ariens dealer to me is in Lake Tahoe several hundred miles away and I am sure he sells more snowblowers than tractors.

I don't think the blade orientation makes a difference, this is not a timed deck. The JD gauge works good for me, measure front and back on the right and left blades, turning the blade to use the same point as you go front to back. Level side to side, 1/8" or less front to back, lower in the front. To check if the center blade is different, check it with the gauge after you set the deck with the end blades. You can also check with the deck off using a straight edge across all 3 blades and matching up the blade tips at the overlap points. Are you sure you got the gators fully seated on the hub of the spindle shaft and not sitting on the wrong surface?

The rear engine Murray did well enough. Actually, I've seen Murrays get beat for years and they don't know what to do but ask for more. Don't let the built in garage look fool you. $175 in average shape is a great deal. They were tough enough, easy enough to service generally. Take off the two large screws in the panel ahead of the seat, and the whole body shrouding slides off around the engine. The only thing that I don't wish on you is to have replace the traction belts and what goes with it. But generally drives on RER's are kinda a pain anyways. Unless you like turtles...