Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): Sears dlt 2000 lawn tractor 42 deck, bridge rectifier, regulator rectifier

Question
i have gone thru 3 batteries in 2 months.After 3 or 4 cuttings all i get is enough power to turn on the headlights.Is there an alternator? What am i missing. Thankyou.  

Answer
The first thing I would check would be all of your ground wires electrical systems will have more than one.  The other thing that causes this is a bad diode in the wire coming from the engine to the battery to charge the battery my guess is that if you put a meter between the ground cable on the battery and the frame you will see a steady discharge.  That means that it is not grounding somewhere else sometimes you have to find the schematic or your tractor to be able to find switches and grounds.  You could check the engine output with the engine running before the diode or bridge rectifier or regulator rectifier the engine will should put out AC voltage once it's plugged into the system that produces DC voltage to charge your battery.  This is done with one or more  diodes depending upon the complexity of your tractor's electrical system.  With a Sears product you can go to Sears parts direct.com enter your model number and find most drawings and schematics for your tractor.  I hope this helps.