Clutch Lever on Craftsman 42in lawn tractor won’t engage

[Jayl6458]

I recently bought an old Craftsman 42 in Lawn tractor, model # 917.273351. The clutch engagement cable was broken so I replaced it, however, the clutch lever is in the disengaged position all the way down. When I try to push the lever into the engage position all the way up, it only goes about a quarter of the way up and gets stuck. I don’t have a ton of experience with this mower so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ILENGINE]

Make sure that item 55 on this diagram is not binding up, and also check the condition of the brake arms item 53. If any of those parts are binding it will be hard to engage the blades. Also if you look at the area on item 55 were the brake arm roller will be at when engaged and find notches worn into the idler arm then need to replace engagement arm as well as the brake arms.