Post the Sears 917.xxxxxx and maybe there's a schematic available for it. Sears has "some" for the older tractors. That way one can possibly determine how your lighting system is arranged. Some are basically 12V from the battery, while others have an AC "lighting" circuit to the alternator.

Check the 20 amp fuse it will protect the key switch and the charging system. It should be mounted on the housing beside the battery right side when setting on the seat. Your charging system needs a regulator or a stator. It might be a simple fix just a wire or plug unpluged. You can test the stator very simply with a multi meter.

I had a similar issue with the snow thrower on my Cub, but for me it was partially a brightness issue (corrected by replacing the bulbs with LED's), and partially a placement issue - the snow thrower is almost as high as the headlights. Realizing that the issue is similar to snow plows, here's what I did... I picked-up a couple auxiliary LED lights off eBay. I tried one about the size of a thumb, that had a single LED. It was OK, but I also tried one that's about 2.5" square, with 3 LED's, that throws a little wider beam. Using a couple simple "L" brackets, I mounted these using existing hood hinge screws. This placed the lights about 6" higher, and a few inches further from center, than the existing lights I wired-in a quick-connect to the original lights, so I could unplug those and plug these-in - just like a snow plow. These pull a little more current than the stock bulbs, but I don't use it that often at night, and have the tractor on a battery tender when not in use, so I really don't worry about the extra draw. I have about $15 in supplies, and maybe a hour's time in modifications. It maybe adds 5 minutes to the mower-to-snow change-over, but really helps on those darker winter nights.

The Wax is actually a nice deep green and is greener than when I got it by far. It is the darker green of the two, but has a lot more of these thin spots on the leaves. It gets partial sunlight.