Craftsman Kohler V-Twinn 22 HP 50" Deck I had the same problem...fuses blew as soon as I would turn the key. I done the wire check, battery, everything. I jumped across silinoid to start but the tractor wouldnt move or blades wouldnt turn on. When tractor was running when releasing clutch I would start to move but the mower would start to die until I pushed the clutch back in. I finally found a plug on the left side of the engine. (I think it is called an ammeter.) I unplugged this turned the key and to my suprise the fuse didnt blow. So I jumped on and it started. I put the mower deck on and again to my suprise the blades came on. Now the mower was running rough and maybe backfired a few times but the damn grass is cut. Will buy this part tomorrow lol. hope this helps someone.

You've probably got a short to ground in the harness. The tiller likely shakes things up enough for it to short out. You could try wiggling the harness by hand to see if you can find the bad spot (fuse will blow). Look under the fenderdeck, as the wires can get pinched there. Adding the rear PTO also causes the dealer to install an extra harness and module in the harness under the dash (near the circuit board). Make sure nothing got shoved in and cut by a bolt or sharp edge.

There is a short somewhere between the fuse holder and the ignition switch. Did Bill say that already? :^) The wire is Red with a black tracer. Be suspicious of any place where it looks like a harness might be squeezed by, rubbing, or bent sharply around any metal surface. If you see any of the mentioned conditions, you may have to physically cut into the harness over wrappings to inspect the wiring inside. Be really careful if you decide to start opening a harness, you don't want to create more problems by hacking ruthlessly. When I have to open a harness I use a #11 X-acto knife and slice with the cutting edge facing AWAY from the harness bundle so I am only able to cut the tape and not the wires underneath. Then I peel the tape away. Many harnesses these days have plastic split loom covering the wires and if cap unravel the tape you can remove the loom to inspect everything inside. Sometimes shorts can develop between a hot wire and a ground wire inside the harness if the harness gets "mashed' really hard or crushed tightly for a long time. Searching for shorts can be a daunting task sometimes.

I'm assuming that this is a Kohler? The 2 outer terminals on the voltage regulator are fed AC from the stator under the flywheel. If these are shorted, then you will need at least a new stator and sometimes a flywheel. You should be able to unplug the connector, run it up and get 26 ish volts set on your meter's AC scale. If you find that you have the need for a stator, pull the flywheel before ordering parts as sometimes the magnets let go from the underside of the flywheel. The center terminal is DC from your battery via your switch. If this doesn't match your system- post engine model info.