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So here's the issue. Ive got a early 2000's exmark lazer z 25hp air cooled mower. It has been a great machine all it's life. All of last season I experienced a major problem when ever I trailered the machine from lawn to lawn. When I would move the mower from lawn to lawn I would get ready to mow I'd turn the key and the motor would crank and crank. It doesn't make the normal noise when cranking. It pops and backfires and if you're lucky one cylinder will fire and it will run for ten seconds on one cylinder then die out. After repeating this process of getting the mower to fire on one cylinder the battery will run dead. Eventually (and I have no idea why) everything returns to normal, the motor cranking is normal and both cylinders fire and everything smooths out and it will run perfect all day long, until it is shut off and trailered again. I assume it has to be something to do with bouncing on the trailer. When it isn't trailered it will fire up every single time at my house. Possibly the carb is flooding? Or the magnetos for the spark plugs are bad? The motor was just rebuilt at the end of last season (rings, lifters, valves, push rods) and it didn't solve the problem. Again the machine runs perfect once it gets started. Where should I begin my trouble shooting? Any suggestions?

Any model numbers off of the mower and engine????

Model and serial off the machine,
Lz25kc604
278629

As far as numbers off the engine i don't have them. It is a 25 hp air cooled horizontal shaft Kohler command engine with a single barrel carb.

Your shaking the trailer to much put a fuel shut of in line turn it off before you drive down the road ......

I have tried switching the tank selector off before driving down the road. Also even tried shutting that valve off while the machine is running until it totally runs out of fuel but neither helps the issue.

The one and ONLY solution i have found so far is leaving the machine idling while I'm driving but I do not want to have to idle away my gas while I drive to clients that are fort minutes apart.

Next time it won't start take the plugs out and spin it and see if oil comes out of the chamber

How would oil be getting up to the plugs?

Bouncing or tipping the mower

Ok seems i have more of one problem possibly. As i started in the original description I did a rebuild at the end of last season. The main reason was i noticed multiple push rods were bent. fast forwards to today i have another bent push rod on cylinder 2 intake. I don't understand what would cause this to happen again, and don't know if this is contributing to my starting problem. is this something i should definitely look into and fix if the Mower runs good once it starts? What would cause this? I read on other forums possibly clogged lifters from old oil