I broke the key on my new tractor and what I did to fix it.

[Plas62]

I was getting off my tractor (xj2025h) Saturday and hit the ignition key with my knee and bent it over pretty badly. I had hit the key before with my knee and bent it slightly and was able to straighten it out. When I tried to bend it back it Saturday it snapped off.

LS just put the key in a bad location and the key sticks to far out of the ignition. I suspect I'm not the first person this has happened to. Below is what I did to my spare key to try to modify it so this would not happen again.

I had a knob from an obsolete piece of automation that we scrapped out at work. The knob had a 10x 1.5 mm steel threaded insert in it which just happened to be slightly smaller than the width of the key.

I put my spare key in the ignition and marked it with a magic marker, so I would know how much of the key I would need to leave sticking out. I then cut my spare key off just under the plastic head of the key and slightly tapered the end I had cut off on my disc sander, so I would have a lead in when screwing the knob onto the end of the key. (I had tested this on the broken end of the old key before cutting up my spare key). I then chucked up the cutoff spare key in the vise on my mill and then screwed the knb onto the shank of the key. I then mixed up some JB Weld and filled in the area between the shank of the key and the threads of the insert. I even drilled a hole in it for my key chain. Below are pic's of the finished product. I'm happy with how it turned out.

 

[Wagtail]

Well done Mate! :thumbsup:

Strange that LS would design their key(s) to originally fit like that... an accident waiting to happen. My JD keys are short & squat = no danger of whacking them.

Mind you, I'm a short arse.

 

[sbct]

I like that!

 

[CCWKen]

Do you wear knee pads now?

 

[Plas62]

Nope, the key's short enough now my knees miss it.

 

[oosik]

That is a very crafty solution. Closer to the dash and much easier to turn.

 

[tcartwri]

Broke mine off within a week of owning it. Took the stub and soldered it to two brass flat washers. It is completely flush with the dash now.

 

[sbct]

I've now bent and bent back my key 4 times by hitting it with my leg on accident when jumping off. Anyone consider remounting the ignition lock somewhere else in the plastic dash?

 

[Patches]

Broke my key off leaving about an eighth of an inch in the plastic fob; soldered the two together with the fob at 90* to the toothed section. It sits flush with the face of the switch, causing no more trouble

 

[John Fitzgerald]

Broke my key off leaving about an eighth of an inch in the plastic fob; soldered the two together with the fob at 90* to the toothed section. It sits flush with the face of the switch, causing no more trouble

I was hitting my key with my knee and bending it when getting off the tractor. I had a new one made at the local Farmer's Co-op, and it has a much shorter bow (head), so I don't hit it.