2000 Yard King won't start.

The loud buzzing could have been the solenoid ALMOST engaging. Before looking at the starter, make sure you've got your battery terminals clean and tight, and that the battery cable from the + terminal to the solenoid is clean, tight at both ends and not corroded. If you can, check the resistance of it using a multimeter to see if you've got corrosion/poor connectivity in that cable.

If all those check out, then you need to start looking at other things like the starter....

hamiltonfighter said:

Murray 52161x89B - Yard King Performance 52"

Wife said the noise it made was deafening. Is the solnoid under the steering column? The battery is good and fully charged. When you turn the key absolutely nothing happens.

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I believe the solenoid will be behind the little access panel on the left hand side [while sitting on tractor] of the dash tower. If the sound was deafening I would doubt that it is the solenoid. I have had them buzz and click, but never do anything that was audibly disturbing.

There is a 15 amp fuse between the ammeter and ignition switch, check that that is not blown. That should also be behind that panel.

When the tractor cut out were the blades engaged? When trying to start are the blades disengaged?

Here is a good solenoid basic trouble shoot video.

Put the new fuse in and nothing. Our 80yo neighbor, who we love, stopped by and helped with some trouble shooting. He touched the two posts on the solenoid together with a screw driver while I was turning the key and the mower started. He went home after we thought the solenoid was the culprit.

I went to start it again and noticed that the mower tried starting this way without turning the key. Is the ignition switch bad. From the story my wife told, the mower didn't stop with making horrible noise until the battery was unplugged. Makes me think the ignition is stuck on the starting mode which is what probably burnt out the solenoid and fuse. Does this sound correct?