2032 PTO problem

new (9 hours) 2032. A couple time after first starting and getting to the part of the lawn i wanted to mow, the PTO would not engage. turned off engine restarted and it worked fine. that was at about 3 hrs. tonite i went to mow again and it acted the same. restarted and it works but then it quits after maybe 15 secs. 3-4 times this occured. then it quit and wouldn't start at all. was about to put it away and restarted once again and it kept working.

ideas?

9 hours !