electric drainage in murray

I have a Murray Select series tractor with a briggs twin II engine and for some reason, the battery keeps draining. I have a new battery in it but every day I try to start it and it never starts. I usually have to jump it or put a charger on it. I drive it around for about an hour for the battery to charge but if I shut it off another couple hours later, it will not start again. someone please help me out with this and if you cant, is there some kind of battery kill off switch I could make for it?

IDK how old it is, but if it's new enough to have an anti-after fire solenoid, that could be bad and drain the battery. I can't really think of what else would be drawing current. Maybe check the grounds for corrosion, my '98 Ford Explorer ranch truck had that issue real bad, and after I cleaned a ground it went away immediately.

To test the solenoid, there should be some wires going to the bowl of the carb. With the engine running, pull the wire connector off the bowl. The engine should die immediately. If it doesn't, leave the wire off and see if the battery drains. If the battery does not drain, then the solenoid is bad. You don't need it, just leave the wires off. The EPA put it there to be a pain in all of our butts, there are tons of things that can go wrong with them. I even had one fall off once and pour gas all over my super hot exhaust.

Seems unlikely that would completely drain a brand new battery over a matter of a couple hours.

When you go to start it does the solenoid just click, or does it turn over sluggishly? If it's the latter the starter might just be dragging and needs to be dissasembled and cleaned.
Also maybe check all your connections to make sure they are clean and tight.

Also I deleted your repeat threads, no need to ask the same question more than once.

theres a simple procedure for finding battery draws, but you need a multi meter and you need to know where your fuses are. take meter set to volts and see what your battery is at. 10 volts or better and you can still use it to find a the draw. less than that charge it first. now set to amps, most models you have to physically change the location of the probs FYI. then remove the negative wire from the battery. place one prob on the battery negative and one on negative cable. if there is a amp reading of more than a few miliamps you have a problem. start pulling fuses one at a time while monitoring the reading on the meter. if you pull a fuse and the amp reading drops significantly, you found your draw. now find a diagram or chase out the wires and see what is causing the drop, maybe the alternator coils, maybe the ignition switch, maybe wires are broke in the harness or rubbed through and shorting out on the frame. disconnect and reattach as you go until you find the electrical component causing the draw

@Creepycrawler It would be nice if these small tractors had fuse blocks like bigger tractors or cars, but that is sound advice.  Instead of pulling fuses though I would try unhooking componets like relays or solenoids one by one to find the current draw.   A couple of relays on can drain a heavy duty truck battery in a week.  I bet there's a mainline fuse, maybe one for the lights and that's it.

True, I was pretty tired when I wrote that forgot about lack of fuses on these things, I’m used to doing it on cars lol

Hello, I just read your post and a caution just popped up that i feel i should mention. I am have done a lot of work around wiring and batteries, and had a very bad day when a battery exploded at my feet, showering me with flack and acid...if you have a problem that keeps discharging the battery, it's obvious that you will be doing a lot of charging..it's easy to forget how much hydrogen can be given off, especially if the battery is left charging un attended for too long. Rather than disconnecting the battery and reconnecting it again causing a small spark every time the wire is re-connected. or the crocodile clips from the charger are removed from the battery terminals..there is a real risk of a tiny spark at the terminal, right next to where the battery is venting explosif gasses. I had a battery on charge on a low shelf of my bench. i was using a mig on a chassis near by and had a problem with the weld quality, wire speed or co², anyway i decided to do a test weld on a peice of scrap in the vice, just above the battery !!! as i started to run a nice bead on the test piece there was an enormous explosion and a part of the battery hit my hand after bouncing off the handle and embedded it's self into the ceiling of my garage !!! was i lucky the object hit my finger flat, otherwise it would have taken off a few fingers....so now when i connect or disconnect a battery i have the power off... also with a leaky circuit draining the battery.
A great little tool is a small 12v 5 watt bulb , then solder a pair of long wires ( 1 meter or more) to the bulb and add a pair of crocodile clips. disconnect the NEGATIVE lead from the battery, and inter connect the bulb between the battery terminal and the ground wire. the long wires will enable you to have it dangling wherever you are working so that when you disconnect a terminal you will see the light go out and indicate where the current drain is occurring.. the similar technique is used when you have a short that is popping fuses on a motorbike or car. just jump the fuse contacts with the bulb. I actually have a special lead with an empty fuse that plugs in where the blowing was was located..I insulate the bulb with self amalgamating tape but if a short to ground did occur there would be no danger if connected on the negative side of the battery. good luck with the repair ...colin