Toro 22" 190cc personal pace engine dies engaging self propelled

[kukayaker]

New member but had a repair question that has me stumped. I have a toro 22" 190cc personal pace engine. The engine starts easily and seems to run okay, however the moment I push forward to engage the self propelled it dies. The troubleshooting steps I've taken are:
Check the spark plug and clean it (probably could use a new one)
remove the carburetor, disassemble the lower half, remove bowl/float/pin and clean with carb cleaner
clean air intake/filter (could use a new filter) but engine also has same problem with air filter guard and filter are completely removed
Fill it with fresh fuel
Remove the guards covering the drive belt and confirm there are no obstructions. confirm the bent will move freely when manually spinning the blade with the tension engaged.

The engine when not being pushed ran okay, however I tried to cut the lawn without use the self propelled, I made it about a row and a half and the engine died. This happened before any troubleshooting steps other than fresh fuel.

The blade when manually spun works okay, there's some resistance and about every 2 rotations there's a slide sticking point where there's more resistance but only required a little more manual effort.

I'm not terribly handy however with great youtube videos I feel confident handling most simple repairs but I'm not sure if I'm at the point of going to a repair shop. Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[mechanic mark]

Toro l Recycler Personal Pace Walk Mower, Model 20372 scroll down & click on manuals then service manual & download at bottom left of screen, see section 9.5 cable adjustment.

 

[Rivets]

My first place to look would be the belt jammed by a piece of mulch between either the drive pulley or blade adapter pulley. Will probably have to replace the belt.

 

[primerbulb120]

I had an acorn get jammed in my Toro's belt. After removing the acorn, the mower worked great and I didn't have to replace the self-propel belt.

 

[kukayaker]

As an update, the problem turned out to be a simple issue. The cable for the blade control bar came out of a clip where it runs along the handle frame. When I would push forward on the handle to engage the self propelled, the cable would bend instead of keeping it's shape so the tension would be lost and engine would die because the throttle was no longer engaged. All I had to do was clip back in the throttle cable back onto the handle frame and it works great again. Thanks for the advice.