I have a Craftsman LT1000 garden mower (18HP OH). I asked a question yesterday about trouble with starting. The mower is 3 years old. I last used it in November and it was fine. It is stored over the winter in my cold, attached garage.

When I tried it this week it would not start... no click, no sound. I replaced the spark plug, the fuel filter and changed the oil. I bought a 12 volt battery charger and fully, slow-charged the battery. When I turn the key I'm hearing nothing but a short grinding sound. Then, when I recheck the battery power, it will show 60% or 65% of capacity. I don't know if buying a new battery will solve the problem or if it's something more than that. I'm disabled and have a hard time getting around. I hate to call someone for service because they will have to come to my home and it will cost me a fortune. Any suggestions??

Craftsman Lawn Tractor hard to start - DoItYourself.com Community Forums

I know very little about mowers but found the link above that might have something to do with your situation. Have you tried turning the flywheel by hand for a while before trying to start the engine? If that works for you, your problem might be similar to the guy who posted the above about his equipment.

Thanks for your reply. I will try this today. What drives me crazy about lawn mowers is the fact that they work perfectly fine one day, you drive them to their "sleeping spot" and walk away. Why you come back the next time to use it and it find all this nonsense going on is beyond me! I mean like what happens while the mower is "sleeping" to suddenly have the need to make adjustments to valves, flywheels, etc. that most of us knows absolutely nothing about? Whatever happened to "change the oil fill it with gas and mow the lawn?" Very, very frustrating. That's why I hate riding mowers. They're touchy and moody like ex-wives! Especially mine!

Jimplan, remove your battery and carry it to have it tested. I believe when the battery is put on a "load tester" it will show that the battery is weak due to a dead cell. What a lot of people do not understand is that they can have a battery at "full" charge of 12 volts, and the battery will not start the machine. This is due to a weak battery which looses its cold cranking amps. You see, you may have the volts to back up the battery, but without the guts, hereby being the cranking amps, you actually have nothing.
The reason I am not leaning toward the valve adjustment is from you saying that the battery is "fully charged", then goes to 60 to 65 percent charged. This tells me it is a battery issue. Try to obtain a battery with at least 300 cca.

Many thanks for your suggestions! I purchased a new battery and the mower is purring like a cat! This website is great!

Check the positive cable from the batt. To the starter it may be corrosion and keeping you from having a good connection. Then maybe replace the batt.