Lawn mower won't start?

Question

I am the gardener at my house. Unfortunately, I am not a mechanic, also. Here's what happened today. The grass was longer than usual due to so much rain (Florida). I had to mow slowly because I could hear the mower laboring threw the tall grass. It finally quit and now will not start again. I can't pull the cord because it won't release and come out. Any ideas? It's a Sears Craftsman by Briggs and Stratton.

Answer 1

It sounds like something is jamming the motor.

Look underneath the deck and see if there's a build-up of grass or and object of some kind keeping the blade from turning.

Answer 2

I am guessing that you have a bunch of grass under the mower holding the blade. First! Remove the sparkplug wire!

Tip the mower enough to look under it. Tip it with the air filter up. Clean out any grass that is between the blade and the mower deck. Set it back down and see if it turns. If it does reconnect the spark plug wire. Never reach under the mower without disconnecting the sparkplug wire.

Answer 3

Is your lawnmower a 2 cycle engine? Some Craftsman are. That means that you have to add oil to the gas when you fill the tank. If you ran the engine without the oil, you may have locked up the engine.

If your engine is 4 cycle, then you will have a place to add oil to the crankcase. Check and see if there is oil and it is up to the full mark on the dipstick.

if all of the above checks out, then unplug the sparkplug, and try and turn the blade by hand to see if the motor will turn.

good luck.

Answer 4

check to see if something is stopping the blade from moving freely...saftey features on lawn mowers will not allow you to pull the cord to start it if something is jamming the blades...