[lowes48]

Hey Guys,

I’ve got some 1440 troubles! I went down to the building to get the ol’ girl out for one of her last flogs around the yard before winter sets in and the battery was dead… No big deal, I’ll just charge it up! But before I got in too far I found that the negative lead and it was loose, so with a few quick twists of a wrench I was back in business! She fired right up! I pulled the hydro lever back, something felt weird and the tractor was barely moving. I looked thru the opening in the dash to see that the lever was riveted on in 2 places and the bottom rivet was broken, which resulted in the lever having a lot of slop! I figured this was the culprit to the slow/no movement issue, and that it shouldn’t be too difficult to repair, so I decided to fix it… 5 hours later I was buttoning everything up from my lever repair and I proceeded to fire her back up to see if my handy work paid off…

She was reluctant to start and would only do so for a short period of time (maybe 5 seconds), with the choke on, then it would die (Is the fuel varnished? Did the carb get some trash in it? The low fuel light wasn’t on, but I’ll fill her up just to make sure before I try again). It was getting dark, so I flipped the ignition switch over for the lights to come on so I would at least be illuminated while I was cussing, not just shouting bad words all over the place in the dark, and now the electrics are dead! The lights just flipped on for a second and now there is NOTHING from the switch at all, so I assumed the battery was in-fact stone-dead now, so back out it comes and onto the charger. Can’t you tell my Saturday and Sunday were pleasant, fun-filled days of joy?

As of today the battery is back in, fully charged, but still nothing. What is the problem? I’ve checked the only fuse I know to check (20-amp off the solenoid), but it looks fine. I know everything went back together as it should have because the tractor fired after my “repairs”. If I need to remove the carb for a cleaning I don’t mind to do it, as the new gas is subject to varnish without use for an extended period of time, but I wanted to get her back into the building before I get into that job! Which brings me to the next “opportunity” - the hydro release doesn’t seem to be engaging, so the heavy hussy won’t move! I pretty much dragged her down the ramp to my building onto flat ground and the rear wheels were rotating in opposite directions, but I don’t think it hurt anything due to the soft ground, and the short distance.

To simplify this post I’ve listed my troubles below, and thanks to those of you who choose to offer assistance! Happy Thanksgiving!

1. NOTHING from the switch – no lights, no starter, etc. Where should I look?
2. Tractor is now only running for just a few seconds then it dies. Is this a fuel delivery issue? I’ll make sure it has plenty of gas before going too deep…
3. Hydro release doesn’t seem to be engaging. Any tips on getting it to free-wheel so I’ll at least be able to roll “Big Bertha” up the ramp, and back into her bed?

Thanks again in advance for the help!