ST16 cranking on its own

Better call these guys

Better question, all my Sears tractors have a spring loaded switch that turns the switch out of start position as soon as you let go of the key. So even if your grandson was messing with it, it should not be in start position without a hand on the key.
Yes, I could see the key being left in the on position killing the battery, but not in the start position.

Mark, I think those guys only do NYC.

I wonder if somehow the starter wire lead on the key switch touched the power wire on the key switch. Just a thought, could be wrong. I had this happen on an old Jacobson. After I drove it a while I turned it off. I was doing something (can't remember what) and all of a sudden the starter turned on. For some reason the gear did not engage and it just spun. I disconnected the negative wire and after it shut off I noticed that the starter wire had just barely touched the power wire on the key switch. Just my 2 and a half cents.

Dave55 said:

Better question, all my Sears tractors have a spring loaded switch that turns the switch out of start position as soon as you let go of the key. So even if your grandson was messing with it, it should not be in start position without a hand on the key.
Yes, I could see the key being left in the on position killing the battery, but not in the start position.

Mark, I think those guys only do NYC.

Click to expand...

I believe the switch is the culprit here. I recall it was sticky, I shot it full of WD40 and switched the key back and forth a bunch of times trying to loosen it up. Maybe I left it in the start position.