I have a Sears Craftsman Kohler 15.5 HP with 42" deck.

My problem is that after mowing for a brief period of time I can't get the deck to disengage. The attachment clutch lever will not return to the fully disengaged position.

I presumed that grass clippings were jamming something up. I found that if I squirt water from the garden hose toward the idler arm area that it seemed to free the clutch lever arm up and it would return to the disengaged position. Not easily, but it would at least disengage the deck.

However, last weekend I had another problem (fuel, but it is fixed) where the mower quit before I got very much mowing done.. Again, the deck would not disengage. I lowered the deck to the lowest level and had a look. There were no grass clippings in the area. I went ahead with the "hose it down" fix and eventually the deck did disengage.

Later I tried raising and lowering the deck to see just where it was binding up. The only two places where it appeared to maybe be binding were at the idler arm and the pulley mandrel (right side).

Any clues for the clueless here on what might be the problem and perhaps a suggested solution?

Thank your for any help you can provide.
E

Idler pulley is probably dragging and when you squirt with water there is enough slippage that the belt is not grabbing, check for full travel on arm.

Don