my craftsman ridding mower will start and run fine until i engage the blades. they slowly build up to speed as the engine struggles not to stall. when i release the brake and try to actualy cut, the enfine dies.

eric, May 2010

Your problem appears to be a frozen bearing in one of the blade spindles. Take off the deck and try to spin the blades by hand to figure out which one is bad. You can try to free the bearings by packing with grease, but I recommend new ones Make sure you scrape the inside of the spindles really good. I had the same problem with mine. Good luck!!

garliaman, May 2010