On May 17, 11:47 pm, "EXT" wrote:
Any idea what I'm doing wrong? (Can't get anyone at Home Depot today
who knows how to operate one....grrr).

If you bought it from a John Deere dealer, the answer is just a phone call
away. Sounds like (engagement knob?) you are turning on the blades before
starting. JD have a disconnect that only allows you to do this when the
engine is running, probably prevents the engine from starting -- never tried
it this way on mine.


The engagement button is down (disengaged). It wouldn't even turn over
if it were pulled up, and the engine does turns over....it just won't
stay going.

I'm guessing it's a choke/throttle adjustment problem that should have
been caught when they did the PDI...but they didn't. Home Depot is
going to arrange for the repair shop guys to come all the way out here
to look at it. If it's an easy adjustment/fix, I'll keep it. If they
can't figure it out or need to bring it into town to repair, I'll get
Home Depot to exchange it for another one.

Other than Home Depot, no John Deere dealer within a thousand miles.