Ride on mower bogs down, stalls, when mowing blades engaged

[jpilk99]

I have a 2001 Husqvarna LGT24K54 ride on mower that has been great since I bought it. I am on top of maintenance, etc, and think it's kept "up to spec". I pulled the mower deck out of winter storage in my shed and greased the 3 spindles and then rotated the drive belt by hand. I did not notice any resistance. Reinstalled and mowed the yard - everything seemed normal/fine.

Over the last week or two, when I engage the mower deck/blades, if I'm at a stand still, the mower will bog down and stall. I've taken to going down a decline and while moving (slowly) engaging the PTO, which gets me over this hump and i'm off and mowing.

Any ideas why this is happening? The mower deck belt is relatively new; (less than 20 hrs or so). Thanks in advance.

Jay

 

[sd455dan]

I have a 2001 Husqvarna LGT24K54 ride on mower that has been great since I bought it. I am on top of maintenance, etc, and think it's kept "up to spec". I pulled the mower deck out of winter storage in my shed and greased the 3 spindles and then rotated the drive belt by hand. I did not notice any resistance. Reinstalled and mowed the yard - everything seemed normal/fine.

Over the last week or two, when I engage the mower deck/blades, if I'm at a stand still, the mower will bog down and stall. I've taken to going down a decline and while moving (slowly) engaging the PTO, which gets me over this hump and i'm off and mowing.

Any ideas why this is happening? The mower deck belt is relatively new; (less than 20 hrs or so). Thanks in advance.

Jay

Not familiar with that husky mower but it sounds like the spindle brake or PTO brake may need adjustment.

Had a Honda Riding Mower that would act like that, try and smoke the PTO brake- before it would release and was trying to engage the PTO clutch Lock Up while the stop brake was still engaged.

Hopefully a Husky Guru will chime in soon.

 

[RandyT]

I am wondering if you are running on both cylinders. Most people don't notice it or don't know what it sounds like. May try removing one spark plug wire or using a pick with a wire on it to ground the plugs individually and see how it runs If it slows down and seems missy the move to the other cylinder. if it dies when you ground one cylinder or don't hear a change then that would be were to start investigating.

 

[jpilk99]

Not familiar with that husky mower but it sounds like the spindle brake or PTO brake may need adjustment.

Had a Honda Riding Mower that would act like that, try and smoke the PTO brake- before it would release and was trying to engage the PTO clutch Lock Up while the stop brake was still engaged.

Hopefully a Husky Guru will chime in soon.

Thanks sd455. What do you mean "smoke" the PTO brake?

 

[jpilk99]

I am wondering if you are running on both cylinders. Most people don't notice it or don't know what it sounds like. May try removing one spark plug wire or using a pick with a wire on it to ground the plugs individually and see how it runs If it slows down and seems missy the move to the other cylinder. if it dies when you ground one cylinder or don't hear a change then that would be were to start investigating.

Interesting, I've never heard of this. Will look into it - would certainly explain why she'd be weak on power... I will say though that when I do get the blades engaged, it runs/cuts well. I can't imagine it doing that on just 1 cylinder. But will check.

 

[i7win7]

Blade may have picked up wire or nylon garden twine and wrapped round the spindle. Plastic bags (fertilizer, mulch, ect) can do this too, generally makes a lot of noise during winding process. Twine and wire usually go unnoticed at 3 mph.

 

[jpilk99]

Blade may have picked up wire or nylon garden twine and wrapped round the spindle. Plastic bags (fertilizer, mulch, ect) can do this too, generally makes a lot of noise during winding process. Twine and wire usually go unnoticed at 3 mph.

Ah, good advice. Who knows, maybe I got a crusty ol' squirrel in there!!! Will drop the deck and inspect. Thank you.

 

[TractorGuy]

I would remove the belt and turn all the spindles and idler pulleys individually by hand to see if any were freezing up. This of course would be after looking under the deck for any possible entanglements.

 

[handtools]

I am wondering if you are running on both cylinders. Most people don't notice it or don't know what it sounds like. May try removing one spark plug wire or using a pick with a wire on it to ground the plugs individually and see how it runs If it slows down and seems missy the move to the other cylinder. if it dies when you ground one cylinder or don't hear a change then that would be were to start investigating.

I had a 26 hp Kohler in a Craftsman rider that did this, replaced the coil to fix it.

 

[Diggin It]

I am wondering if you are running on both cylinders. Most people don't notice it or don't know what it sounds like. May try removing one spark plug wire or using a pick with a wire on it to ground the plugs individually and see how it runs If it slows down and seems missy the move to the other cylinder. if it dies when you ground one cylinder or don't hear a change then that would be were to start investigating.

I'm not sure which engine is on that. If it's a V Twin, he may want to look at valves and check for clearance. I had a similar problem with my X300, loss of power in certain situations. At full throttle it sounded OK and ran smooth. I opened it up to check the valves and found one of the push rods laying loose.