I had to replace the mower drive belt and took the mower attachment off to do so. Now the tractor will not start. When I turn the key I only get a click. What could be the problem?

I will try to give you all information needed to fix the tractor. The first question is have you removed the rear wheels. The rear wheels have a square axle key that drive them. I have provided you with an image below showing the placement of the axle key.

If the axle key is in position, the next check to make is if the drive belt is still on. With the tractor on a level surfaced and the engine off look under the tractor at the drive belt. The belt should be free of slack and go around all of the pulleys.

If the belt is fine put the tractor in neutral and try to push it. If you can push the mower, you know the brake is not the problem. If you can not push the tractor the problem is likely a stuck brake. You will need to mover the break lever on the transaxle to see if it is sticking. If it is stuck you should be able to free it up by spraying a little WD-40 on the brake lever. Then work it back and forth.

Your tractor has a hydrostatic transaxle, I recommend you try to purge the air out of the system. The purging instructions can be found in your owner's manual and I have posed them below.

Next check the brake lever on the transaxle. If it has been sitting for a long period of time it might be stuck on. The lever is located on the right side of the tractor inside of the frame. I recommend working the lever back and forth to make sure it is moving freely.

When you are looking under the tractor, have someone move the shifter. When the shifter is moved, you should see the shifter on the transaxle move. If the shifter is properly attached, have someone start the tractor and let out on the brake. Now carefully look under the tractor at the Trans axle drive pulley. The drive pulley should be spinning. If the pulley is spinning, the problem is most likely a defective transaxle.

Check to see if juice is reaching the starter motor terminals and that it is grounded. If ground is ok and no juice then you will have to back trace all of the components in that circuit . Also check to make sure that all of the safety switches are in closed position when you go to start and run tractor.

I an wondering if you have the wrong drive belt. I did this myself and the belt was too tight so when I started the tractor up it put me into a ditch full of water. I had to get the right belt. My replacement was only one quarter inch shorter but would not work.

can you turn the pulley of the rear transmission by hand? are all the idlers turnning freely? aligned well? is the belt on top of a guide pin or bar instead of under a guide?

check your pulleys to make sure they haven't split as this does happen. Adjust the belt tensioner to tighten the belt when you engage the clutch to drive the mower. You should be able to see the belt tensioner by dropping the cutting deck to its lowest point and looking underneath the mower to see which pulley actually puts the tension on the belt to make it drive. there is no need to start the mower to find which pulley needs to be adjusted, it should be obvious when you look at the belt and the pulleys.
Hope this helps you

Remove the center dust caps from the rear axles, start the tractor up and put it in gear and observe the axles, if one of them is spinning freely inside the wheel, you have lost the 1/4" square key that pins the wheel to the axle. Replace the key and you can go back to mowing. Hope this helped Tim

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU NEED TO REPLACE THE CARB I KNOW YOU JUST HAD IT FIXED TRY IT

To install the drive belt you will have to remove the drive belt first.
Follow the procedure: ---
Park the tractor on a level surface. Set the parking brake and remove the key from the ignition. Study the belt replacement guide decal located underneath the left foot board for proper belt routing instructions.
Remove the mowing deck by first moving the attachment clutch lever to the disengaged position (toward you). Move the attachment lift lever all the way forward to lower the mower housing to its down position.
Crawl beneath the tractor and roll the drive belt off engine pulley (it hangs directly beneath the engine). Remove small retainer clip that holds the clutch spring to the pulley bolt located at the center of the mowing deck. Remove the large retainer springs (two of them), then slide the belt collar away from the mower housing and off the housing bracket.
Disconnect the anti-sway bar rods from the chassis brackets by removing the retaining cotter pins. Disconnect front links from the mower deck by removing retaining cotter pins. Disconnect the suspension arms from the rear mower deck brackets by removing the two cotter pins.
Move the attachment lift lever all the way to the forward position to raise the mower suspension arms to the full up position. Slide the mower deck out from beneath the tractor.
Crawl beneath the tractor and roll the drive belt off of the stationary idler pulley and the clutching idler pulley. They are both located immediately adjacent to the engine pulley. Be sure the belt is already away from the engine pulley, as well.
Push the drive belt slack toward the rear of tractor. Remove the drive belt from the Trans axle pulley by taking it over the trans axle pulley while compressing the movable belt keepers surrounding it. Remove the old belt from the tractor by pushing it clear of the center span keeper (located beneath the Trans axle pulley).
Install a new drive belt by following the reverse of the instructions for removal. Test the tractor and mower for normal operation.
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Replacing the belt is easiest if you drop the deck. There are roughly 6 pins you must pull (refer to sticker on deck) including the engagement cable. Pull the deck from under the tractor and remove the plastic pulley shield from the left side. Remove the belt and replace the same as you took off and re-attach the deck to the mower.

I just replaced mine today and let me tell you it was a pain in the ****, Had to remove the deck, steering attachment on the underside,and the electric PTO. Took about two hours.