Hi Boudreaux. Thanks for the reply. Yes it is 4 years old and has a Briggs and Stratton 24HP V-Twin but it runs great until the blades are ingaged. After reading some of the other threads I am leaning toward the cause being a bad PTO electric cluch that as the mower warms up, begins to disengage the blades. I am wandering if it is electrical versus mechanical because as soon as I push the PTO switch to the off position, the engine sounds great. Anyway to test to confirm the valves on one side are the problem?