How do I disable the seat switch on JD L105?

[dfkrug]

We are dummying down everything,to make sure the dummest of us are going to be alright,and number one,that won't work,that lady[or man] who backed over his baby while mowing[you know,the one that caused this mow in reverse thing?],would have found a way to kill it anyways,car,steps,boiling water,poison,etc. Number two,yeah,we are dummying down.

You protect yourself,you don't worry about the other dummy that much[unless the other dummy is making you unsafe],everybody should be their own safety police.

Well, yes, manufacturers add more and more safety devices as they try to
mitigate for stupidity. (Who said, "you can make something fool-proof, but
not dam* fool-proof"?) Unfortunately, this trend adds to manufacturing costs
and maintenance problems down the road. Next to come will be ROPS
structures for riding mowers.

We all choose how much safety we want, but some would want the govt to
not only force manufacturers to put certain safety devices on their machines,
but they want to keep you, the owner, from disabling them.

[TractorRob]

I came how one day about a year ago and our new lawnmower was sitting in the front yard by the steps with the yard half mowed. When I went in the house I asked my wife why it was there and she said it ran out of gas. I went out to put gas in it and when I topped it off I could tell that it had not been empty. I started the lawnmower and turned on the blades and when I tried to go in reverse, the engine died. Tried it again, same thing. I finally realized it was the reverse lockout(I can't blame the wife for not realizing, it took me a while also). After starting the mower, you have to turn the key backwards one notch if you want to mow in reverse. Probably 90% of the time when I mow the yard, the first time I try to go in reverse the engine dies because I forgot to move the key back. I hate that safety feature.

[rjskes]

my tractor is a la165 and has 4 prongs who do i jump that one can anyone help?

[Iron Horse]

I just bought a John deere L105 lawnmower at Lowes last weekend and its a good mower......whenever I can get it started, that is.

Here's the problem; I'm a 5'3'', 105 lb (currently mad as ****!) Polish woman and even with the seat fully forward I can barely reach the brake pedal to push it in; when I finally push it in far enough my butt lifts off the seat just enough to keep the mower from starting. I had my husband push down on the seat to help me get it started; once I had it started it would shut off in the middle of the yard if I happened to shift my weight even slightly.

I called John Deere's 1-800 number to complain and the dipshit I talked to told me that it was MY problem for being small! He told me to return the mower if I wasn't happy; not feasible, because all makers do this.He was very rude and kept interrupting me. He's lucky I didn't get nasty on him; I can make someone feel pretty bad if I have the mind to.

I called a local dealer who was very nice and explained that there have been lawsuits over kids doing dumb things on the mowers and getting hurt (my dad would have whipped my butt if I even tried anything that dumb as a kid) so they install the switches. He did tell me that it is very easy to bypass the switch but he couldn't tell me by law (curse our litigious society!).

Can anyone tell me how? Otherwise I have a completely useless lawnmower.

Get someone to extend the pedals for you and leave the safety features alone . It is not only dangerous to bypass the safety switches but it is also dangerous to drive it if you cannot reach the pedals properly . I can imagine you trying to stop in a hurry with your leg fully extended and your butt off the seat while pulling on the steering wheel , extend the pedals .

[KevPH1]

The answer maybe found by adding custom made brackets that would relocate seat position closer. Maybe something like unbolting seat from sliding frame and adding/bolting drilled flat bar to the seat sliding bracket. The flat bar would then be drilled for forward seat remounting.
Just a thought, hope it helps.

[k0ua]

Well here are my thoughts, as someone who has back-flipped a mower on top of themselves (I was unhurt). I thought the seat switch was a good thing. That said, I think the mow in Reverse is a bad thing. On some mowers it just makes you "sign a waiver" by putting the key one notch back or maybe pressing a button one time. What good is that? The John deere method is to make you press a button every time you back up. That focuses your attention on the dashboard to press the button instead of focusing your attention on looking behind you to see the person/thing you are about to run over. The key to safety when mowing in reverse is to look behind you. I don't see how any of the switches do that. What I do see is a manufacture saying something like "well we did the best we could to mitigate an accidental event" Now we all feel better for "trying". Well steers "try" and it's about as effective.
James K0UA

[plowking]

I'd imagine a few injury lawyers or/and lawsuits brought about the safety devices on mowers. I was going to disable the seat switch on my first tractor, the service manager wasn't happy when I asked him,seems they had an accident in the shop with another customer's machine when the mechanic started it and wasn't told or warned about the disabled switch. I think the machine may have took off and possibly hit something or went out thru the back wall of shop. I wouldn't want to sell a used machine to a new owner like that,could be trouble later. plowking

[Chief400]

This procedure is what I performed on my John deere 110 to disconnect the seat switch. The problem is that the seat switch has four wires and is interconnected with other components.

I do not recommend doing this because it is dangerous. BUT if you want to do it, this is how you do it.

Move the seat all the way forward, to access the switch easier. Raise the seat and disconnect the seat wiring harness connector from the switch itself. On mine you had to push a little lock on bottom of the harness connector down and pull it out of the switch. Zip tie, tape, or secure the wiring harness to the seat. Don't plug it back into the switch.

Open the hood. Follow the handle which engages the blade to the bottom of the handle itself. There you will find a safety switch with four wires attached, which senses when the blades are engaged. Again, unlock the wiring harness connector and pull it out of the switch. Leave the wiring harness un-connected and jump a wire between the purple wire and the purple/white wire. Zip tie, tape, or secure the wiring harness out of the way. Don't plug it back into the switch.

With this procedure performed the seat switch is now out of the loop, the mower will remain running and the mower will back up with the blades engaged without having to push the reverse button. CAUTION!!! With this procedure the blades will continue turning if you get off (or fall off) the seat or the mower. This is dangerous and can easily cut you foot off. Don't do it.

[Egon]

On the seat switch just wrap some duct tape around it so it is closed. Easy to take off.

[Scientist999]

Sorry I was not sooner, but just ran into the problem again myself. For a smaller person, remove the kill switch from the seat, fold some aluminum foil until thick enough to make up the difference between a 300# walrus and your more petite self, (ensure sufficient side to side and end to end dimensions to keep said shim in place) and replace switch. You now have a safe (note to all liability worriers out there) and slightly modified system that works for you, not Norma Normal. Of course, if the foil happens to be too thick you should modify until it works properly. It is also possible to just wire the switch down, but that is not recommended for all the legal bleat noted in other posts. Note to manufacturers - If you would build a special switch unit your dealers could install to meet the needs of the smaller population that would allow for adjustment, you might make some more money!