I finally figured out the battery drain issue on my new "lemon" lawnmower. It turns out there really was no problem there. I have cut the lawn with it for the 5th time now, and in the late afternoon, for the first time. It was kind of dark, when I backed it into it's resting place in my barn. The guy I bought it from, incorrectly installed a new drive belt when the original busted at 5 years of age. That is a tortuous 8 hour job, even for a good mechanic, requiring tearing half the tractor apart. The problem due to the incorrect assembly, is the brake does not function at all, and the tractor cant even be shifted into neutral with the motor running. It is hydrostatic, and, when idled down all the way, can be shifted from forward to reverse, directly, or vise versa, but it still moves at a snail's crawl. With the motor off, it can be shifted into neutral.
The first time I tried to store it, I ended up hitting my boat, pushing it a ways, before I turned off the key to stop it. Only because the tractor has a nice soft rubber, energy-absorbing grill, was no damage done. The next several times, I figured out that I could stop the tractor by using a "safety" feature, that shuts down the motor immediately if the mower is engaged while in reverse. I simply put the throttle in the lowest position, backed into the barn with the mower not engaged, and engaged it when I got to where I wanted to leave the tractor. That worked like a charm, but that is also when the "battery draw" began. As it turns out, I would always leave the key in the "on" position when I did that, because the engine was off, and I forgot to turn off the key. The tractor has another "safety" feature - full time headlights. It was always around noon when I backed in to store, real bright out, so I had no idea that the lights were on. I suppose it only takes them an hour or so to empty the battery all the way.
I only let the battery drain once, before going to the "wing-nut" trick on the terminal. Turns out I don't need that afterall. Now I always remember to turn off the key after stopping the engine (and wheels) with the reverse/mow safety. The seller must have worked a while to get the brakes adjusted enough to stop the machine when I did my test drive. I tried adjusting them again but no luck. The only thing I can say good about that tractor, is it does get the lawn cut in about half the time as my 30 year old gear-drive tractor, with the same width 48" cut, and it leaves it "smooth as a carpet". If I can get a season or two out of it, I guess I wont be too far behind. I am certain it will never go more than 30 like my old one has. Maybe I will get a little better life out of the drive belt than the original buyer did due to the "incorrect assembly". Clearly, a design that fails a drive belt at 5 years is a bad one. Maybe that "lemon-seller" figured out a way to improve it a bit. Cutting the lawn is one job I don't enjoy, but it sure is a lot nicer with a hydro, even if it is a "lemon".
