Engine - Drivetrain

full time 4wd. all four tires have to be off the ground.

ok..according to mel ( you were right ! )..i'm bowing out of this.above my pay grade..lol. good luck !.

well then, honda in their wisdom changed it , my luck..lol.

I think all is good now except my pride.   It all started last year.  One day while moving my ATV it just quit.  Turns out it had blown the main 30 amp fuse.  I figured there was a short somewhere so took side plastic off to examine as much wiring as I could.  Pulled and twisted on harnesses as much as I could without ever finding anything obvious.  Put another fuse in and it fired up and ran for rest of last year.  Started a few times through the winter without issue.  Got it out the other day to move an aluminum boat and trailer.  Nicely hooked up and moved about 6 feet and died.  Fused blown again.  This time I was determined to get at every possible wire and connection so started by taking the racks off so front and rear plastics could be removed.  Popped all the plastic fasteners off and realized I had to remove the battery, starter solenoid, fuse box and other things before plastic could come off. (never done this before)   As I was handling all these components still attached to the harness I noticed chaffed wires that has to be rubbing on the solenoid bracket. (metal)  Put the test light between the negative cable and negative battery post and low an behold it did not come on as it done previously.  Had I taken these components out first I would have saved myself a ton of work putting everything else back together.  Lesson learned.  Rule out all the easy stuff first.  I had it in my head that the rectifier may have been bad and that is what I was going to ask on this forum.  No need now but I see this forum appears to be a very good source of information and many people willing to help.   Thanks for asking wheelsquad!

Machine runs off of oil pressure, but that hydrostat turns gears, and the gears seem to be your problem.  Before you start pulling things apart, let's check the easy stuff first.   And yes, you need the wires on those brake switches.  That's what allows the engine to start in gear.  It will only do so when the brake is applied.