Craftsman DLT 3000

sears.com for manuals and info on the set up

The engaging of the mowdeck is cause an excessive demand of your engine. From that, we can assume your problem is in the deck. Since the power drive is all about belts and it threw the belts, from your information I can only deduce that either an object (stick-wood-rock) has wedge into a position that has stopped rotation of the blades. Also, each blade has a pulley/spindle. These have bearings which must be free to rotate.
A bearing failure or seizing can also cause the problem you report.

Follow safety rules in your manual to insure the engine cannot start. Attempt to rotate each blade to check for free rotation. If the do not you most likely will need to remove the mower deck and check further. An obstruction or seized spindle should be easy to determine and sit repair is easily possible.

Try this : http://www.ssbtractor.com/wwwboard/view_all.cgi?bd=lawn&msg=12041 or this: http://www.manualslib.com/manual/496601/Craftsman-917-272440.html

there is a switch underneath seat that shuts blades off if not pushed down or there is another one on the reverse that shuts off blades off when mowing one could have went bad hope it helps

if you removed the seat and then placed a fuse in the plug for the saftey switch and then started having this issue . with my experience with the safty switches on the seats most are open as not connected to make a circut when your sitting on the seat or pressure is applied to the seat . try removing the fuse and attempting to start mowing or least ingauge the blades and that should fix your issue ... when removing the origonal seat you just left that curcut open so it can not close and make connection when you get off the seat . so you should be fine after removing the fuse from the socket .. happy mowing

It sounds like a micro switch, make sure the block connecter under the seat is fully pushed home onto the micro switch, there are other switches on the machine, one under the brake/clutch pedal, one somewhere on the blade engagement, so make sure it is out of gear, the blades are not engaged and you are fully seated in the seat.

I'm betting that you need a new safety kill switch - probably the one underneath the seat (the spring-loaded plunger switch that won't let you use the machine without your *** in the seat). Could also be the one behind the "dash" that is associated with the blade engagement mechanism.

I know that the under-seat-switch cannot be bypassed or it will disable the machine in the exact way that you described. Why do I say this? Because I just tried to bypass my own "***-in-the-seat-safety-switch" on my very own 15.5 HP, 42" Sears tractor, and it responded by punishing me - the absense of the switch caused the motor to cut out when I tried to put the machine in gear AND/OR engage the blade. It seems to have some measured capacitance - the absense of same seeming to interrupt the ignition timing enough to shut the motor down when you attempt to get anywhere past neutral or engage the blade. These "safety" switches may be needed by a very few who prefer to be drunk while they mow lawns on steep slopes that their tractor mowers were not designed for, but I find these items to be troublesome and enfuriating. My trees shed a lot of sticks in high winds, and I can't stand shutting the machine down and restarting it EVERY SINGLE TIME I have to dismount to clear sticks or other obstructions out of my mowing path. This is an obnoxious, "nanny-design" feature that desparately needs to be discontinued. It also makes both jump-starting the tractor and electrical troubleshooting much more difficult than they should be. The tractor should let you dismount without shutting down, as long as you have disengaged the blade and shifted into neutral. It should also let you jump start with jumper cables - impossible to do with your rear end in the seat. By the way, call Manufacturer's Supply, Inc. at 1-800-826-8563. They may have a replacement - their item number 31-9664 might do it, but talk to them first. I'm calling them tomorrow. Good luck.

assuming that you are working on a briggs engine? regardless of make what the problem is that the needle and seat inside the carb is not sealing off the fuel flow from the fuel pump/fuel tank or both......gravity feed fuel systems are the worst about flooding, the only fix will be a carburetor repair with needle and seat replacement

There's a safety shut-off switch below the seat, so when you're seated the switch is engaged. If you were to fall off the mower, the engine and Blades stop (safety feature).
Check the switch to see if it's operational.
Beyond that, mower may need a tune up or servicing, if it is not starting.

Depends on how it cuts off. If it gradually slows down over a few minutes or surges, it's likely the carburetor needs to be cleaned and rebuilt. But if it's an immediate cut off, it's likely to be a safety switch such as the one that shuts down the engine when you get off the seat if the mower is running. Sometimes this happens frequently to a light person who bounces on the seat when mowing.