Hey, that was a pto clutch before it became a paperweight. papadave , check the connection at the back of the key switch & make sure it didn't just pop loose. Does sound like a bad ground connection though. No power from battery to anything.
Well, looky what I just found. Yep, blown fuse. No idea why that would happen, but if that's the problem, it's an extremely simple fix (and I don't have to find the multimeter). I'll buy several, just in case.....you know, I decide to mow the ditch again. Thanks to everyone who offered help. Now, all I need is a few days with no rain, and I can get back to moving firewood.
So, trying to pop in a new fuse and it blew right away (nice little light show). Pulled the neg. cable and put in the fuse, but the cable sparked like crazy when putting back on and of course the 2nd fuse blew (I bought 2 5 packs). Something else is wrong. No bad connections at the switch, and I can't see any loose/frayed wiring.
Any part of the mowing deck able to rise up and crush a wiring harness ? I had an ignition switch go bad in my tractor. Replaced the switch but now if I get up off the seat in gear, instead of shutting off the engine a fuse blows. The circuit is full of diodes and one of them or something else went bad when the switch shorted out inside. One of these days I'm a sit with the wiring diagram and figger it out but for now I just don't get up off the seat with it in gear.
You have a power wire shorted to ground...something that is hot with the key off...battery cable...or maybe a main supply wire to the fuse box?