"For a year or so I've been having an intermittent starting problem with my John Deere X300 lawn tractor". In my experience electrical problems never heal themselves and often result in damaging other components resulting in a more expensive repair when not diagnosed and repaired promptly.

You didn't include how old your X300 is we'll start at square one. You say all you get when turning the key is a click? Is the click coming from the starter solenoid? If yes then you can rule out the seat switch and the parking brake switch and the PTO switch cause if any of them were bad there would be no click..

You might need a battery. Remove the battery. Take it to an auto parts store and have it load tested. Checking the battery with a DVM tells you nothing about the current capability of the battery. If it tests OK reinstall. If not, then buy a new, QUALITY battery. Check the battery cable connections on BOTH positive and negative cables at BOTH ends. Check the engine mounting bolts and starter bolts to be sure they are tight because a good chassis ground is a must have.

Still have the click with a known good battery and solid ground connections?

Jump the two large cable connections on the starter solenoid and see if the starter spins the engine. If you don't know how to do this don't do it cause there are enough amps in the battery to arc weld and can ruin your day.

If you jump the starter solenoid and the starter spins the engine then the solenoid is bad.

Tell us what you find.

Thank you. I will take the battery and get it load tested. It has been quite a while since I have jumped starter solenoid connections but I can handle that, too.

Also, thanks about the seat, parking brake and PTO switch. Not knowing the logic behind the switches I didn't know what the symptoms would be if one of them is bad. I know what happens if you get off the seat while the engine is running and the parking brake is not set. Where's a good flow chart when you need one, huh?

I will post and let you know the outcome.

What year is your X300 and how many hours?

I have 287.4 hours on my 2006 John Deere X300

A 2006... my money is on the battery being the problem. Best batteries around are those made by East Penn (DEKA) if they are available in your area. Made in USA and extremely high quality. A decent easier to find option are batteries at Costco made by Johnson Controls usually in Mexico. Lower quality than East Penn batteries but Costco offers no hassle customer service. I've never been happy with Walmart everstart (neverstart) although some people are happy with them. I paid the money for a John Deere so using the cheapest parts never enters my mind.

Regardless, best if the tractor is stored indoors if you don't live in a moderate climate area. Check electrolyte at least every 6 months and use distilled water to top up. Cold kills batteries and so does inactivity.

Went to Advanced Auto and they performed a load test on the battery. It measured 12.53V with 412 CCA on a battery rated for 340 CCA. The ambient temperature was 76 degrees F which explains the measured CCA greater than rated CCA. The battery is 2 years old and although I store the tractor in an unconditioned space I do bring the battery in during the winter. I would have rather it been the battery because that is a relatively easy, quick, and cheap fix. I will check the battery cables and solenoid, in that order. It may be the solenoid since it is clicking, which means it is getting power.

If the battery is the correct size then that appears OK.

Next, do the quick and easy charging system check just for fun. Wait till it's dark and start the X300 and turn on the lights and let it idle. While watching the headlights increase to WOT and the headlights should get brighter. You can put a DVM on the battery and see the increase in voltage but in the dark seeing the increase is easy.

Sounds like bad cable connection, bad ground, don't forget to check the engine mounting and starter bolts, or a bad solenoid or bad starter.

If it ends up being the starter and you have a local starter repair take the starter to them. Might just need an cleaning and a commutator touch up or brushes. OEM JD starters are BIG bucks and the Chinese replacement ones are getting lots of negative reviews.

failing ignition sw.

"failing ignition sw(itch)"... could be that too and is easy to check.

Perhaps this will help... don't know your serial number so this diagram may not be exactly correct.

The battery cables are OK.

When I jump the 2 solenoid terminals with the switch on and/or when the switch is turned to start I get no response (no spinning starter or cranking engine). If I check voltage at the solenoid on the upstream side I get 12.5V. On the downstream side with the switch turned to start there is no voltage. Bad solenoid or am I missing something here?

Serial Number is 019924. I wouldn't imagine that there is a great difference...

Make sure the heavy positive cable from the battery to the stater/solenoid is tight and not corroded. Everything could be correct and a bad cable or connection there will not spin the starter even though the solenoid is being tripped by the ignition switch. If that's OK then...

Put a simple test light on the purple wire at the solenoid with the ground wire of the test light to ground. Turn the key to start. Does the test light light? If it lights then the ignition switch is tripping the solenoid and the starter simply won't spin. If that is the case then this is what I would do...

Pull the starter, set it on a concrete floor and get a set of battery jumper cables. Hook one cable from the battery negative terminal to the starter case. Hook the other cable to the battery positive terminal and put your foot on the starter case to keep it from moving and use the other end to jump the starter. Does the starter engage and spin? If not then the starter has a problem. If yes then have overlooked something.

Gotta find my test light. Well it's getting kind of late anyway to do any more this evening. Thanks for your help justalurker and rexlex. When I get it figured out I'll let you know. Maybe then I will be able to help somebody else!

Well it did turn out that the starter solenoid was bad. When I was testing it and not getting any voltage across it with the key turned to start was a valid test. Long story short: for less than $20 the solenoid was replaced and it starts and runs like a champ now. I did go ahead and change the oil and filter, too. Thanks for all your help and sorry for the delay in responding back. My oldest son got married last weekend and things have been topsey turvey around here.

My JD with a Kohler engine did something like this. It started being hard to start, then difficult and finally impossible. I don't know if it applies to your tractror or not.

The problem was the condenser, when that was replaced my problem was solved. The dealer spent several hours in the shop before they figured out what the problem was.

was mowing, backed up, mower blades stop automatically.RE Engaged blades and it went CLICK now blades won't Engauge

So , you have the option to mow in reverse. But as to your symptoms, if you hear a solid click, likely your PTO clutch is working and the belt had hopped off, spring snapped etc.. If your PTO is not running, look in the back for the reverse sensing switch. It may still think that you are in reverse.