Every once in a while real-life creeps in. Had to mow the lawn but my mower wouldn't start up after our weird winter. So I put down my latest Motorola console restoration and set about diagnosing. It wasn't the starter, it was the starter solenoid.

I had a heck of a time getting at the starter solenoid on this Ariens Zoom 42 Zero Turn mower. On most solenoid change videos on YouTube why that thing is just sittin' out there all pretty where any ol' person can get to it without too much trouble. Quick turn of the wrench and you can swap out one for another. Not so on this ol' girl. The starter solenoid is buried behind the gas tank with no clearance below or to the side to get a wrench on it much less remove the wires for replacement. After spending the better part of the afternoon figuring out all the steps needed to get at this thing I figured I should make a video so that the next poor sod didn't get bogged down like I had. Good luck with your project!

And FYI, if I had just done some regular maintenance on this mower instead of messing with phonographs all the time I could have avoided this whole situation, but as my mower got increasingly hard to start I ended up having to lay on the ignition longer and longer. Why that solenoid burned out faster than a half effed fox in a forest fire. Keep your mower in tip-top shape!