I have a Craftsmen riding mower about 6 years old on tight turns it backfires and sputters, almost stalling. It sometimes does the same on unlevel ground. It continued to do this even after I changed the plug and fuel filter. I just find it odd that turning the wheel tight would cause this to happen any help?

Sounds like a power issue. I'd check all the belts too. Make sure they aren't too loose or cut up. Maybe some dry gas if it's been sitting idle in a garage over winter. How old is the gas that you're using? If you're using old gas, try new gas, or buy some octane booster, but be careful what you add. A mower doesn't need much.

It really could be anything. A loose plug wire. Does your mower have a safety switch under the seat when the blade is running? Make sure that wire is also connected securely. I don't think it's a major problem though. But it'll be a pain to find it.

Or even a foreign object rolling around in the gas tank, temporarily restricting the flow. My kid used to drop stones in there if you didn't watch him every second.

You could have a wire shorting out as you turn the wheel. Look for a wire running underneath the deck lift arm support rod that runs horizontally from one side of the side panel to the other. The wires underneath may have a bare spot on them.

And the owners manual will tell you not to mow on sloping areas that could cause you to tip over. Basically the oil in the engine is supposed to be at a certain level. When you tilt too far to one side this is bad for the engine, also parking/storing the mower on an unlevel spot is bad. Based on the temperature of the engine and the type of oil (weight) you have in it, having the mower running under a load (cutting grass, going uphill) then having more oil on one side of the moving parts and less on the other could cause enough drag to stall it out.

I was a John Deere dealer for 13 years before starting over as an educator. I have seen this problem numerous times. I have found usually that there is a bubble of water rolling around on the bottom of the bowl of the float type carburetor. Stop the flow of fuel to the carburetor, take off the bowl and clean it out. A ring found in the bottom of the bowl around 1 cm in diameter will be the evidence of water. Put the bowl back on, being careful of the rubber o-ring found between the bowl and the body of the carburetor. Restart the flow of fuel. Choke and start normally. This should fix the problem with no parts and about 4 minutes of your time. Good Luck!

Post model+serial# located on a tag under the seat.

It is probably the belts.is it gear or hydro.

Mower_Man.
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Good Luck,you will need it.

I might suggest that because the machine is not level, neither is your body. Often times on turns or bumps my seat kill switch will open causing the motor to try to cut out. It happens fast and the switch closes and it will backfire or sputter.