***"Mounted in plastic"*** Unless Deere has included some sort of "ring terminal" to the mounting, there is no need to separate the PTO switch from the plastic mounting panel. You said that the brake switch had been defeated before you acquired this mower and now the wires are taped to the brake pedal. OK, I don't see anything in the diagram where a defect in the brake switch could cause a problem in the operation of the engine that that occurs ONLY when the PTO switch is turned ON. By this I mean that any problem in the brake switch that could affect how the engine runs..........would affect the engine even without pulling the PTO switch to the ON position, so we can move on from that and go to the PTO switch itself. After studying this diagram at length/depth.......I believe the problem (engine wants to die when PTO switch is turned ON) can only be due to a defective PTO switch. And I think it must be because the PTO switch is bleeding some voltage into the magneto kill circuit which then upsets the normal spark making function of the ignition system. The way I see it, there are 3 ways you can test this: Option A, disconnect the wire pigtail from the PTO clutch and connect 2 independent, temporary wires to the clutch, be sure to maintain the correct polarity, Blue wire is the hot side, Black wire is the ground side. With the temporary wires in place, and the engine running, touch the temporary wire for the hot side of clutch to the "Battery hot" post of the starter solenoid (safer than the battery hot on battery). If the PTO clutch engages without affecting how the engine runs...........defective PTO switch. Option B, Disconnect (or cut) the White wire lead that serves the PTO switch (if you choose to cut, make sure you cut so it can be restored). With this white wire out of the equation, start the engine and turn the PTO switch ON. If the engine runs OK now, replace the defective PTO switch. Option C, Replace the PTO switch and hope for success.

For those who might be interested, I thought I'd pop this back to the surface now that Danny has had a chance to upload the photos that go with his blog text. They are now in Tahiti and recovering from a bit of culture shock. :) Here is a link that might be useful: Danny's blog.

Hey! My son did the same thing, almost! A few years back he and his then girlfriend bought a wood sailboat and spent many months restoring it. They sailed it down the coast of CA (from Ventura) to the bottom of Baja CA in Mexico. After the relationship ended, my son sailed alone to Central America a few times. He has some amazing stories to tell. He learned to sail when he lived in Fiji. If you ever see the (really awful) movie called Return to the Blue Lagoon -- the sequel to the Brooke Shields movie, you would see my son playing one of the sailors on the ship. The movie company hired the ship where he worked to be in the movie, and he got to be an extra. Your kids are just so amazing. Says a lot about their mom. It's so good to see young people living life to the fullest. Go Daniel, go.

Linda, what a handsome little man he is! I love that little Mona Lisa smile he has going on. I can't wait for my GB to get here. I only have 8&1/2 months left to go!