Any electrician mechanics out there ?

[Kevin the grey]

At the archery range we have this old yardman lawn tractor . Some of the volunteers there seem to think it is meant to cut rocks and yet this thing still performs . that is until yesterday . I turned it over and nothing . Just the sound of a relay contact closing or a bi-metalic strip automatic breaker tripping . This lead me to believe there was a positive ground . I checked with a meter and no positive ground . I followed the poistive cable to some kind of relay .(not the same relay that is tripping ) Battery cable to relay contact , other side of relay contact to starter . I jumped the contact and when I touch the positive cable to the battery terminal the motor starts to turn over . Yahoo at least some progress .

The drawback is the motor turns over without the key in the start position . With the key in the on position I started the motor and disconnected the positive battery lead . This at least allowed me to mow the grass with the drawback being the battery won,t recharge without the positive lead connected .

I suspect the relay(if that is what it is) is part of the mechanism to shut off the motor if no-one is sitting in the seat . I am not 100 percent sure of this as why would the starter stay engaged if I jump the contact without being in the start position ?

I just want the starter to disengage and still have the positive lead connected . Any clues ?