It sure could.....good thinking, Brandi.
Shutting down a motor while the PTO is still spinning an implement is bound to shake the machine pretty hard. I remember doing it with the key switch just once on the old JD and never again. It could have shaken things hard enough to make a wire come loose or for anything else to happen.
Some of these safety features can be troublesome. Even though it is a hydrostat, the
M59 has a manual clutch that has to be pushed in order to start the tractor. I left that one in place, but defeated all the switches in the seat the first day of ownership. It's common for tractor operators to stand up sometimes.
Once when the
M59 wouldn't start it turned out to be a small twig had gotten trapped in the F/R pedal mechanism and was holding it just slightly off center.
rScotty