Nixon,
The switch has changed since you last saw it. It is now on an all plastic, circular plate
that twistlocks 1/4 turn into the bottom plate (metal) of the seat. It has a plastic circular plunger (approx 2 in, dia.)integrated to the mounting plate that activates the switch under the pressure of the seated operator. Looking at the wiring diagram, it seems that unplugging the switch would do the trick BUT, although it lets you start the motor and drive the tractor, it will kill the motor when you try to engage the blades.
To get the job done and over with, I used 3 tie wraps (11in.) and compressed the plunger with them. Everything works as expected after reassembly of the seat. P.S.
the wiring diagram shows a shorting jumper which ties all 4 pins of the switch plug.
I made one and connected it to the plug pins but it seems to only kill any attempt to
start the motor. Thanks for your response, it got me out of my rocking chair and out to my workshop to tear into the problem. ayeray