ZT1 Bogs down when PTO engaged
 

I have a 50" ZT1 that I bought in August 2020. I used it 3 or 4 times in 2020 and put it away for the winter. This spring, it started right up, but when I engage the PTO to mow, the engine bogs down and then recovers speed over the next few seconds. When mowing however, I have almost no power. The mower comes close to stalling, or actually does stall when turning and going up my yard (with only a slight incline). I replaced the fuel filter and put in fresh gas this spring. The safety switches in the handles and seat all seam to work and cut power if I try something while standing off to the side of the mower. I 'seem' to have full power without the PTO engaged. The spindles all turn, however, I have not taken the belt off to see if they spin freely. I did buy this from the BORG, and am an hour or so away from a larger town that would have a Cub Cadet repair place, plus, this time of year, everyone is so busy that I probably would not get it repaired until August. The mower only has 6 hours on it. Any suggestions as to where to begin diagnosing this? Thank you in advance.

First, welcome to OCC.......... :Welcome2:

That is where I would start. Remove the Drive Belt and Spindle belts and see if ALL pulleys and spindles turn freely.

Make sure you have spark at both cylinders.
Or
Fuel delivery problem. Carb, fuel filter, water in fuel, old fuel.
If it has that auto choke feature make sure it's not stuck partly on.
If it's not something simple it should have a 3year warranty.

Follow up.
I have had a chance to look into my mower's issues a bit more and have not resolved anything. I pulled the belt and confirmed that all the pulleys turn freely. I verified the air filter is clean. I pulled the input and output in the fuel tank and verified both lines are clear. I pulled the spark plugs and both are gapped properly and look like plugs from an engine with 8 hours on it. I also pulled the carb off and verified that all the passages were open, and that the choke plates both function as they are supposed to. The governor spring is hooked up and the associated plate moves as it should. I pulled the float bowl and that was clean. I was not able to test the solenoid at the bottom of the float bowl as my bench-power-supply is at my other house. The plunger did move easily by hand. I will test this as soon as I get a chance.

Any other suggestions.

Thank you

I cannot gather from your posts what you mean by "seems to have full power without the pto engaged".
Does that mean you can advance the throttle and it responds or does it mean you can actually drive it around your yard and go places you cannot go with the pto engaged?

You don't need a power supply to test the solenoid. Just plug it in and turn your key on and off, you will see it working. If it were bad your engine wouldn't start at all so don't worry about it.

Take it for a drive with the pto belt removed and report back.

I'm wondering if when the PTO is activated the brakes for that PTO disengages? Not that I'm familiar with the ZT1, but curious.....:bigthink: