Yep- Trilly on down to the local lawn tractor dealer, and plunk down a large handfull of cash for a new machine. Yer old one is TOAST!

Thanks to both of you. I'm beginning to suspect my deck is different. There don't seem to be any handles on it at all. What the book tells you to do is: "Put a 15mm closed wrench or a socket on the idler sheave nut (A) and rotate clockwise to move idler sheave toward front of tractor and hold to release belt tension." I tried that, but it doesn't give nearly enough tension release. I'm begining to wonder... I bought the new belt from Alexander & Duncan in Leominster UK, and while I was at it I bought a second one as a spare. The second one has "John Deere" on its outside face, but the first doesn't, and it's the first one that I mounted. Both these belts came in an identical thin card sleeve, but they weren't coiled quite the same way. I'm wondering if someone "made a mistake" and put a non-original belt in a John Deere sleeve. But be that as it may, is it possible that your 48" deck and mine aren't the same? I bought the whole thing less than a year ago, so maybe they changed the pattern. Passthegravey: does your manual talk about slipping a wrench over the left-hand idler sheave nut?

Thanks to this Thread I was able to repair the LT180 I just bought at an auction. All was good until about 30 minutes of mowing when the world stopped turning and the machine was barely moving. After reading all the info above I took a slightly different approach to remedy the slow trans-axle condition. Taking the least aggressive path, I was curious if just a fluid change would make a difference, I decided to jack the rear end up and pop a couple drain holes into the Axle cast housing where Tuff-Torq suggests. Here is a Link https://www.tufftorqservices.com/EnvEEdefault/FlatHTML/TechInfo/ttcoil/pdfs/K46%20Drain%20Port%20Location.pdf I used a 1/8 stubby drill as not to injure any interior components, both holes drained over night. I then added 2 self tapping screws 1/2 inch long with a neoprene washer. Without the deck on the machine I was able to reach under the frame and pop the fill hole cover off using a stubby flat screwdriver. I cleaned up the magnet and filled the unit. 24 inches of 3/8 clear tubing and a small funnel allowed me to add back the 2 quarts of cheap 10-30 oil for my test. Popped the magnet and cap back in place and DONE! I am pleased that the result was success, the machine runs very well without growling and slowing after 30 minutes of use. My intention is to replace the 2 small drain holes with real drain plugs after about 5 hours of use and refill the unit with synthetic oil for hopefully many more years of use. Happy Mowing!!

I have a hunch the charge diode (at least) is fried. Thus you have no power to the fuel solenoid. Was the ignition key off when you had the fire? The battery should be out of the circuit in that position, unless the + cable was grounded. Even if the key switch had a short, the fuse should have blown.