Seat safety Switch? What is the point?

[k0ua]

I will second the seat belt needed. Some of the slopes I operate on here requires the seat belt belted in so you can actually operate the tractor. Otherwise you slide forward in the seat up against the steering wheel. The seat belt makes operation much easier.

 

[tmcj]

I am 45, and for as "young" as I am, I guess I have old school habits when it come to the seat safety switch and seat belt. I grew up on old farm tractors that didn't have them and still occasionally run the old Farmall M. I was always taught safety and cautiousness comes first with any machine. Just be smart about everything you do. Of course the unexpected may still happen, but keeping your head on straight keeps your bones from getting bent, or so I've heard, lol. The seat safety switch on my Max26xl was nothing but trouble, wires constantly getting pinched and blowing fuses, so I bypassed it. I have never used the seatbelts on it either. The ROPS is folded down a lot of the time too. It is too tall to fit in my garage or get under tree limbs in a lot of areas. Probably best not to have a seatbelt on in that case. But I do put the ROPS up if the job permits.

I try to keep the switch hooked up on a lawn mower. I can't imagine having a running mower deck coming at you if you would roll over.

Otherwise I am a strong advocate for safety first. I am a shop supervisor at my work and always enforce using seatbelts on forklifts or the occasional skidsteer usage, among many other things. We started wearing seatbelts in the cars all the time when our kids were young, mostly to set an example for them to grow up with that habit. Motorcycles and ATV's on or off road, I always tell my kids and other folks to dress for the crash not for the ride. Wear the best protective gear you can afford.

I guess I can see it both ways for my tractor. But for now, I have no intentions of fixing the seat switch or pulling out the seat belt. After 4 years the sealtbelt straps still have the plastic sleeve over the webbing from when it was new, lol. Lord willing, I won't regret it.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I will second the seat belt needed. Some of the slopes I operate on here requires the seat belt belted in so you can actually operate the tractor. Otherwise you slide forward in the seat up against the steering wheel. The seat belt makes operation much easier.

I operate a boom mower in the summer, so from July to September, just about daily the "pucker factor" comes into play.

 

[Peter 315]

I am 45, and for as "young" as I am, I guess I have old school habits when it come to the seat safety switch and seat belt. I grew up on old farm tractors that didn't have them and still occasionally run the old Farmall M. I was always taught safety and cautiousness comes first with any machine. Just be smart about everything you do. Of course the unexpected may still happen, but keeping your head on straight keeps your bones from getting bent, or so I've heard, lol. The seat safety switch on my Max26xl was nothing but trouble, wires constantly getting pinched and blowing fuses, so I bypassed it. I have never used the seatbelts on it either. The ROPS is folded down a lot of the time too. It is too tall to fit in my garage or get under tree limbs in a lot of areas. Probably best not to have a seatbelt on in that case. But I do put the ROPS up if the job permits.

I try to keep the switch hooked up on a lawn mower. I can't imagine having a running mower deck coming at you if you would roll over.

Otherwise I am a strong advocate for safety first. I am a shop supervisor at my work and always enforce using seatbelts on forklifts or the occasional skidsteer usage, among many other things. We started wearing seatbelts in the cars all the time when our kids were young, mostly to set an example for them to grow up with that habit. Motorcycles and ATV's on or off road, I always tell my kids and other folks to dress for the crash not for the ride. Wear the best protective gear you can afford.

I guess I can see it both ways for my tractor. But for now, I have no intentions of fixing the seat switch or pulling out the seat belt. After 4 years the sealtbelt straps still have the plastic sleeve over the webbing from when it was new, lol. Lord willing, I won't regret it.

My buddy always says , Dress for the slide not the ride......

 

[LouNY]

Say you are mowing, a low branch knocks you out of your seat, or like a post a few years ago, a female operator run her tractor up on a guy wire of a utility pole, she fell out of the seat, mower continued run her down and chop-chop. That's the idea. a once in a million thing. BUT it happens. It has happened, and if it saves just one life etc etc.

To para-phase another thread "Another reason for a cab" :drink:

 

[k0ua]

To para-phase another thread "Another reason for a cab" :drink:

Well, yeah, there is that..

 

[Henro]

Lot's of input!

I think the issue of possibly falling off the tractor is a non issue if you wear your seat belt, so those concerns pretty much go away with seat belt use.

Can see the advantage of the tractor turning off if tipped on its side, due to the seat switch causing shutdown. Not sure if the seat switch would activate if one is wearing the seat belt, but it might.

Looks to me like a tilt switch would be a better option, in the case of tipping or rolling. It would cut power regardless if one was wearing a seat belt or not.

I am having trouble with the fish on Friday analogy. This is even having after gone to Catholic grade school (over sixty years ago). Could be because I am from Pittsburgh...:laughing:

By the way, I think having a mower that turns the engine off, if you back up with the mower deck engaged, is worse that a seat switch!

 

[PILOON]

"the publishers clearing house" , now that should be banned!

My CUT came with the safety switch missing when I bought it.
The switch was integral to the manual shifter to prevent starting in gear.

Being a simple male/female connector on the wires I disconnect them and it serves as a theft deterrent.

That being said any CUT that has the switch disabled, can by simply using a single switch be similarly modified.
Mind U it won't stop professionals but for sure 'joy riders'.

 

[fried1765]

Lot's of input!

I think the issue of possibly falling off the tractor is a non issue if you wear your seat belt, so those concerns pretty much go away with seat belt use.

Can see the advantage of the tractor turning off if tipped on its side, due to the seat switch causing shutdown. Not sure if the seat switch would activate if one is wearing the seat belt, but it might.

Looks to me like a tilt switch would be a better option, in the case of tipping or rolling. It would cut power regardless if one was wearing a seat belt or not.

I am having trouble with the fish on Friday analogy. This is even having after gone to Catholic grade school (over sixty years ago). Could be because I am from Pittsburgh...:laughing:

By the way, I think having a mower that turns the engine off, if you back up with the mower deck engaged, is worse that a seat switch!

Don't know what they did in Pittsburgh, but.....We had fish on Friday for school lunch, because the Catholic kids were not allowed to eat meat on Friday!
Maybe a different variety of Catholicism in Pittsburgh?

 

[Henro]

Don't know what they did in Pittsburgh, but.....We had fish on Friday for school lunch, because the Catholic kids were not allowed to eat meat on Friday!
Maybe a different variety of Catholicism in Pittsburgh?

I know and remember about fish on Friday (got the impression they don't do that anymore), just do not see how it relates to the seat switch...

Unless it would refer to the majority having to bend to the will of a minority, perhaps?

Edit: By the way, there were no school lunches when I was in grade/high school. We all walked home for lunch. Different world now, with buses and cafeterias.