It's very possible the battery is bad and will no longer hold a charge. It's also possible your high grass (you didn't say how high) ripped a wire loose while going through it. It's also possible that you bought a bad starter on ebay. And it's also possible that your voltage regulator is bad.

Do you have a volt meter to read the DC voltage at the battery while the engine is running? It should be at least 13.5 volts.

Never replace starter until dead battery is replaced the backfiring is also from dead battery. Starter spinning slow RPM's will not engage the gear with flywheel. If put battery on battery tester needle point to replace are below that be dead. Buying battery is like buying milk bread and eggs don't bring home a rotten one look for date it was made 3 month old one is ok you check this out at display in your battery group.

I agree with gator, have the battery load tested most auto parts store do it for free then you will know for sure the battery is a dead duck. all the symtom you described are probably from a dead cell or dead cells in the battery. Not knowing your model and wheather it's a manual engagement or elect. engagement clutch??? but, I suspect you lost power to the elect., if so the clutch seperates and stops the blades from turning, not enough amps in the battery to the start it, the starter don't spin right. also, if the tractor charging system not chargering 12.5 to 14V when battery goes dead so does the engine>>>>Some engine back fire when you shut them down after there hot. Read the owners manual for shut down procedures before you suspect something is causing alittle fuel to be sucked into a hot combustion chamber when you turn the key to off.

Sure sounds like a bad battery. The small batterys in most riders don't usually last much more than a couple of years. A volt meter will tell you quick if the alternator/rectifier/regulator is working or not. Always work on the KIS principle---keep it simple. Don't try to play chess when the name of the game is checkers!

Thanks for the information. So I got a new battery from Auto Zone today. Installed it hit the ignition but the starter gear didn't rise to the flywheel. This is a new starter I'll need to replace after it worked for one start then went south after the moter backfired.

Did you have your battery load tested before you brought a new one??? Will it spin by jumping across the solinod big terminals? Remove the starter and directly hook it up to the battery. Pos (+) to post on the battery and neg (-)to ground out on the battery housing. If it spins like a top, then you have a wiring or solinod problem. Sounds like your not getting any amps to the starter from the ignition, through the solinod to the starter. I suspect bad ground, bad cables, bad ign switch, bad wires from the ign switch, or bad solinod, I don't think I left anything out to check?. I also test a starter with a known good battery when I remove it. I also disassemble the starter and clean it up and retry it just to make sure it's a dead duck.

locomark, proper troubleshooting techniques can save you alot of money, just replacing parts will probably cost more money than taking the Craftsman to someone that can identify the problem and then properly troubleshoot them. The problems you describe appear to be unrelated, battery's as well as starters can be checked "on the bench" at most auto parts stores. You may have other problems at the same same time that you have not yet identified. - - Good luck "suggest you get alittle help in problem identification"

Might i say, in the interest of getting Loco back in operation, that he seek professional help in his area!
Since it is obvious from all the palaver from him, that he knows nothing about the subject, or the tractor, except to get on it, turn the key, and go, that he needs the help of someone in his neighborhood who is experienced with his problems!
Not wanting to sound like a smart-adz, i say the foregoing to give him some advice! Buying a starter when the battery is obviously long past its prime, is not the way to go! Its like jumping into an open well to get enough water to swallow an aspirin!
Loco--get professional help!!
by: Rusty Jones, the Mower Man

Thanks Rusty,

Your advice my be key. I have replaced my turbo 350 transmission as well a replaced the cam on my chevy 350 but never worked on a tractor before.

So I got on the tractor today just for kicks. The new battery wouldn't kick. I'm not sure what would drain a new battery or blow out a starter but I need some help.

P.S. Just lost a $30 dollar an hour job yesterday. So now I have some free time to get it going.

I think you'd better go back to where you lost that $30 an hour job, and beg for it back!
At that rate of pay, you could have bought a new tractor, and had money left over for beer, or whatever.
Seems to me, from all you have written, you're going at the tractor repairs backwards.
That said, in the interest of keeping costs down, you'd better seek professional help! And don't buy anything you can't see, touch, hold in yer hand, except new parts from the parts store. Buying stuff off E-Bay is like buying "a pig in a poke"! And, if you don't know what that means--then you're going to get "trimmed" in everything you attempt to fix!