Older Craftsman garden tractor

[GREGORY GARINGER]

Hey! Hoping someone out there that knows more than I.do
about Craftsman garden tractors can lead me to a solution.
Got an older tractor powered by the Briggs 25hp Intel
engine. Finally have all the junk out of the fuel system, so
the engine runs great, as long as the clutch/brake pedal is
pushed down. As soon as it gets released, the engine dies. Is
there another "kill" switch besides the one under the seat? If
there is some other kind of problem that shuts the engine
down, I would really appreciate finding out what that could
be.
 

[Harvey 2]

There are usually a kill switch on the clutch/brake pedal, mower engaging lever, seat switch and gear shift. Sounds like the one on the clutch/brake pedal
If its your personal mower you can unhook the switches, but a service shop is not allowed to unhook them for a customer.
But what the law doesn't know won't hurt them, just don't tell too many people what you are going to do.
 

[Old Roy]

almost bet a neutral safety switch out of adjustment , if you aren't in the seat if for some reason you aren't setting in it
 

[ShadetreeRet]

As mentioned, sounds like the clutch safety switch. You can disconnect the wires from the switch and connect them with a jumper wire, if it keeps running when clutch pedal is released, the switch is defective. If that is the case, I would recommend replacing the switch. Although you can get by without it, they are there for a purpose, SAFETY. And it would be mighty easy to crank one with it still in gear if the switch were disconnected. That would be downright dangerous!
 

[joe csuti]

Check seat safety sw 1st,on most craftsman(ayp)tractors all safety sw's(pto sw or manual mower engage sw,clutch/brake sw,parking brake/netural safety sw if tractor has either/both) are all wired downstream of seat sw,if problem with seat sw it's telling tractor no one sitting on seat,kill eng if clutch pedal released or mower deck engaged,some tractors also have 1-3 plug-in relays behind dash that are operated by safety sw's depending on mod# of tractor.

The most common problem with craftsman seat sw's is sw loose in mount,sw plunger not being fully depressed by sw,broken snap in ear on sw body or sw bad internally,on most craftsman tractors if you disconnect seat sw & install a jumper in seat sw connector this will simulate a nobody sitting on seat condition & cause same problem you have now when releaseing clutch/engageing mower,try with/with out jumper to see if it cures problem,if it does buy a new seat sw.
 

[joe csuti]

Goto link below,wiring diag might match your tractor,this wiring setup was used on poulan/rebranded poulan & many craftsman(ayp)tractors.
wiring

 

[Dave Clift]

My buddy had one that did the same thing. It was the switch on inside of chassis down by clutch pedal. Had to remove battery to get to it. There was simply a buildup of dirt/dust in the wiring connector to swith(bad connection). Removed plug and blew out with air compressor and sprayed it with contact cleaner and problem fixed.