Off the top of my head I think it's 230 hours. I've had it about 2.5 years - bought it with the house. I'd guess it was 3-4 years old then, but haven't bothered looking for any dates on the mower. We only use it for mowing - about 2 acres. PO probably didn't maintain it at all - he ran down the house so I doubt he took care of the mower. Given that, I think it has held together well. Burns some oil on startup. I've read that these engines have head gasket issues. Haven't investigated. My main dislike is that the body/frame/deck are poorly designed as far as having lots of places that hold clippings. As a result it is pretty rusty for its age. Bought the house with the appliances and mower for less than the house is worth so as far as I'm concerned the mower was free. It's definitely worth that. Haven't owned another mower this size so can't say if it's a good one compared to the competition. If it holds up another two seasons till I sell this house, I'll be happy.

That is a Scotts 50560x8 sold by Home Depot around 96 or so. Make sure the drive belt is still on the electric clutch and the main pulley on the mowing deck. If you are proficient with a DVM, check for power at the electric (PTO) clutch when the key is on, brake is on, someone is sitting in the seat, and the PTO switch is pulled. If you have power then disconnect the PTO wires and check the clutch for short to ground or open. If no power then check the PTO switch and the seat safety switch for proper operation. Check the 25a fuse under the RH side of the hood near the instrument panel. There's also a safety switch on the clutch/brake pedal. If you have a manual there's a wiring diagram to make this easier. I have an operation/maintenance/parts manual for that model you can have cheap if you don't have one.

so to back up just a bit, that adjustable arm was previously adjusted all the way out to the nut, leaving approximately 1" of thread. when lifting the lever to engage the blades tension started about half way up, after that it was no longer moving the linkage down below, just building further tension. also you hit it with the roller, it moved freely on the bolt but when it hit against the metal it was supposed to roll on it did cause tension and sticking. now to confirm with you as i just reconfirmed with myself; if i adjust the engagement arm out towards the front (to push the pulley far into the belt) the slack (mentioned in the previous post) still exists. with the arm attached, if i attempt to push the pulley further back into the belt there is no additional movement allowed. also if i remove that adjustable arm and try to manually move the pulley the stack still exists. both of these attempts involve constant checking and movement of the arm assembly to ensure that everything was in place. im trying to think this thing through, whatever the answer is im sure its simple, although apparently i am more so. it appears all welds and bolts are solid and nothing looks like it has been moved (welds / bolts). im thinking any of the pulleys could be just a bit smaller than they should be, therefore creating slack? maybe with the new adjustable arm i made it so tight it stretched the belt while there was another problem that has since been fixed leaving the problem to the new belt being stretched? im thinking the problem lies after (towards the deck) the adjustable arm. if i cant get the idler pulley to move further back (to create more tension) then ... additional thanks for staying with me.

I would go over the routing of the belt first and make sure didn't bump any switch connector off, Changing the oil, air filter, fuel filter, batt. and fuel lines shouldn't stall the engine out unless the "fuel system " still has "air in the hoses from changing the lines" especially if it has a fuel pump on it (usually gravity feed system (tank mounted above the engine) is not as touchy as tank mounted below the engine. I would run it a while at different throttle settings to make sure all the air is worked out of the carb and fuel lines. I still not sure what you mean by stalling out. Does it die??? or does the RPMs come way down then go up and down???