Hello,

I recently bought a used Ranch King (Murray or MTD not sure). I can't get the model or serial number as they seem to have worn off (seems at least 10 years old).

I got it home and it does have some issues, but I hooked it up to a battery and it started fine (I bought the wrong size battery... need to get a smaller one). I later hooked it back up to the battery to drive it into my shop. Well I had not hooked the leads tightly onto the battery and when I tried to start it they sparked a bit and melted the plastic at the end of the positive lead a little (yes it was very stupid to not hook them up fully).

Now it will no longer start. I'm usually pretty handy but I've only worked on motorcycles and cars, not much on lawn tractors so I'm not sure how the starter stuff works with these kinds of mowers. Does anyone have an idea of what part I need to replace?

I've hooked up a different battery (12v motorcycle batt.) and it does give one click when I turn the key (which it does not do when there is no battery) so I assume there is some solenoid that is still working correctly, but I never get it to even try to turn over. It has a 11.5 hp briggs and straton engine (I can check again when I get home as to the specifics on the engine).

Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!