A battery is considered too low to test at 12.2V.
It is fully charged at 12.6V

Get it FULLY charged and load tested.

Your tractor only has a 3 AMP charging system.
It would take 10-12 hours running at high engine speed to charge a fully run down battery, which you have.
You battery simply may be dead!

IF you have a test meter, you can-
Set the meter to AMPS-
Place in series between the battery and battery cable.
Look for any draw with the key OFF.

I have a hunch you simply have a BAD battery.

Bill.....

Tried to jump from car battery....nothing; however, if I bypass the solenoid and go directly to the starter, it turns over.

So, I'm thinking it is either the battery or the solenoid. How can I test the solenoid? Battery still at 10 amps [need to give it a full charge, and will start that while waiting for a reply]

Again, thanks for your time.

You said jumping across the terminals of the solenoid gave you nothing.
That means the solenoid wouldn't do anything even if it was good, since it simply "jumps" the large terminals internally.

You need a GOOD battery to properly test the solenoid.

Place your test leads on the 2 solenoid terminals. + lead on the battery side.
It should read battery voltage.
Crank the engine. IF the solenoid is GOOD, the voltage reading should drop near ZERO, because the current is going through the solenoid contacts to the starter motor.
IF the voltage stays at battery voltage, it is trying to go through the meter because the resistance of the solenoid contacts is too high.

Until you get the battery LOAD TESTED, you are peeing in the wind!

Bill....

Thanks for your help. Load test failed. Battery would not even take a charge.

New battery, starts better then has past year.

Next time I will follow your first suggestion [load test in this case] first, not later in the process.

Again, thanks for your time and help.

Sometimes it's hard to get that point across,
These batteries simply, for the most part, do not last nearly as long as car batteries.

Glad you're up & running.

Well....tractor starts fine now, so today I decided to cut the grass. Not!

When I put the "blade-lever" into the "engage" position...the blades did not engage. Total silence. There is still good tension on lever when moving up to engage the blades, so spring is still connected,

There was a lot of built up dirt/grass on deck. Thought maybe it was keeping the idler-pulley from moving to tighten belt, but that made no difference.

The belt does not seem to tighten when lever is engaged with motor off. Does motor need to be running to tighten belt?

Couple more things worth noting: 1-when it was working, it would squeal when first engaging the blades, but I just thought that it was just some initial slipping of the belt 'til fully engaged. Maybe not. 2-Blades turn, somewhat harder when lever is not in the "engaged" position, very freely when in "engaged" position. 3-Belt is not tight in either position.

Anybody help with this issue? I will scan other entries to see if someone else has had same issue while waiting.

Thanks for your help and time.

Pulley tensioning arm shaft on the deck is frozen. Engaging lever will still work but tensioning pulley armature won't move. A little penetrating oil on the shaft and a hammer tap will fix it...

for now
TJ

wildcat - after you get that deck mechanism loosened up and working again, also quit washing the machine - if you are doing so - but start blowing same off with compressed air or leafblower after each use... will minimize those "frozen up" parts.

Question: my belt keeps slipping off the pullys and my wife says the arm lever tbat engages blades wdies not engage fully or not as much as before any help