While we were on vacation my sister in law was mowing the lawn. She was out back, as far from the road as you can be and not fall into the creek out back and the tractor died.
When we got home I went out to look it over, the battery was strong, cranked the engine over without any problems but it seemed like there was no gas getting into the engine (21hp Kawasaki, 4 cycle). Called one of the neighbors who is very good with small engines and he diagnoses it as having either a bad vacuum pump or not enough vacuum to spin the pump, consequently, as I suspected, it was getting no fuel.
I take the vacuum pump off, picked up a new one and changed it. But now the engine won't spin.
Pulled the battery and charged it, obviously while working on it we ran it down enough that it wouldn't turn it over. So I get it charged up and put the battery back in but I can't connect up the positive side cable securely. 
The terminal was corroded and the bolt broke off inside the connector 
All of this wouldn't be a huge problem if the tractor was in the garage where there are tools, but the thing is 1000 feet away from anything, a swarm of biting bugs seems to have taken up residency in the shade under it, and I'm tired of driving back and forth to the house carrying tools!
The plan now is to bring down a sheet of plywood, tug the tractor onto the plywood and strap it down, then use the plywood as a sled and pull it out of the field, up the hill and to the garage where I can actually work on it. I can't use a trailer to get to it because my trailer won't fit between the trees!
HOW DO YOU CLEAN OUT A VACUUM HOSE and what is it connected to to create the vacuum? I obviously know what it is and were it is, but I don't know how the vacuum is created. I'm thinking that is really the main problem. If not, then I'm at a loss.
When we got home I went out to look it over, the battery was strong, cranked the engine over without any problems but it seemed like there was no gas getting into the engine (21hp Kawasaki, 4 cycle). Called one of the neighbors who is very good with small engines and he diagnoses it as having either a bad vacuum pump or not enough vacuum to spin the pump, consequently, as I suspected, it was getting no fuel.
I take the vacuum pump off, picked up a new one and changed it. But now the engine won't spin.
Pulled the battery and charged it, obviously while working on it we ran it down enough that it wouldn't turn it over. So I get it charged up and put the battery back in but I can't connect up the positive side cable securely. The terminal was corroded and the bolt broke off inside the connector All of this wouldn't be a huge problem if the tractor was in the garage where there are tools, but the thing is 1000 feet away from anything, a swarm of biting bugs seems to have taken up residency in the shade under it, and I'm tired of driving back and forth to the house carrying tools!The plan now is to bring down a sheet of plywood, tug the tractor onto the plywood and strap it down, then use the plywood as a sled and pull it out of the field, up the hill and to the garage where I can actually work on it. I can't use a trailer to get to it because my trailer won't fit between the trees!
HOW DO YOU CLEAN OUT A VACUUM HOSE and what is it connected to to create the vacuum? I obviously know what it is and were it is, but I don't know how the vacuum is created. I'm thinking that is really the main problem. If not, then I'm at a loss.
