New 2024 Cub Cadet Ultima ZTXS5 54

[Runner]

About 21 hours on the new machine now.

Started investigating the oversensitive seat switch issue. What I found is that the seat position switch (which shuts of the PTO if you bounce off the seat, or shuts off the engine if you try to get off without setting the parking brake) is a very squirrelly design. Instead of plugging into a receptacle on the bottom of the seat, like some other Cub products, this switch is attached from the top side to a piece of fabric stretched across the seat frame. Presumably, this is to prevent tampering. It appears the only way to service it is to remove the seat and take the seat apart.

You can get to the front and rear sides of the fabric piece, and it has a certain amount of stretch, so I decided to try to slide something in between the bottom of the seat cushion and switch. My first attempt is a fairly thick piece of cardboard. The thought was that this would take up some of the space between the switch and bottom of the seat, and maybe that would make it less sensitive to slight bouncing that takes place when going over bumps.

I did a brief test ride and tried to bounce a little, but couldn't really tell much difference. So I will leave it for now and see how it acts during the next mowing session. If it doesn't work, I'll try adding a little more cardboard.

If I can't get this to work, I may have to resort to just bypassing the switch. I don't want to do that, because I think it's a good feature, just too sensitive. Perfect example of unintended consequences. Manufacturer thinks they are promoting safety by installing an oversensitive seat switch, but the end result is people have to bypass it to make the equipment usable....

 

[Richard001]

Wow, five wires to a safety switch. It's a lot more than on/off.

 

[Runner]

Wow, five wires to a safety switch. It's a lot more than on/off.

Tons of YouTubes on how to bypass. Hope it doesn't come to that.

 

[drumminj]

The

Tons of YouTubes on how to bypass. Hope it doesn't come to that.

The bypass for these switches is to stick toothpicks in a few of the pins, if I remember correctly (not as easy as some of the others).

The bottom of your seat looks different than mine though. I don't have that fabric, but it is a similar setup where the safety switch is installed from above rather than below. I'll take a photo and come back and edit this post later this afternoon.

Regarding the seat safety, I mowed the entire yard yesterday (front, side and back...usually I do them at different times) and didn't trigger the PTO cutoff once. I have a theory -- pressure on the bottom of the plastic switch (pushing it into the seat a bit) helps keep the switch depressed. I believe it is making contact with the springs on the suspension insert in my setup, thus making it a bit less sensitive.

Not sure how to test/verify that though....

 

[drumminj]

The

The bypass for these switches is to stick toothpicks in a few of the pins, if I remember correctly (not as easy as some of the others).

The bottom of your seat looks different than mine though. I don't have that fabric, but it is a similar setup where the safety switch is installed from above rather than below. I'll take a photo and come back and edit this post later this afternoon.

Regarding the seat safety, I mowed the entire yard yesterday (front, side and back...usually I do them at different times) and didn't trigger the PTO cutoff once. I have a theory -- pressure on the bottom of the plastic switch (pushing it into the seat a bit) helps keep the switch depressed. I believe it is making contact with the springs on the suspension insert in my setup, thus making it a bit less sensitive.

Not sure how to test/verify that though....

Sorry I haven't updated my post -- I can't get a good photo without taking the seat off the mower and just am not motivated to do that

The bottom of my seat is a hard material though, not fabric. And the sensor is clipped into it from above (vs riveted). Don't think that really changes anything, just the difference between the 20" and 24" seat.

 

[Runner]

Sorry I haven't updated my post -- I can't get a good photo without taking the seat off the mower and just am not motivated to do that

The bottom of my seat is a hard material though, not fabric. And the sensor is clipped into it from above (vs riveted). Don't think that really changes anything, just the difference between the 20" and 24" seat.

It looks like you would have to disassemble the seat, to some extent, if you ever need to replace that switch. Not great.

 

[Runner]

About 21 hours on the new machine now.

Started investigating the oversensitive seat switch issue. What I found is that the seat position switch (which shuts of the PTO if you bounce off the seat, or shuts off the engine if you try to get off without setting the parking brake) is a very squirrelly design. Instead of plugging into a receptacle on the bottom of the seat, like some other Cub products, this switch is attached from the top side to a piece of fabric stretched across the seat frame. Presumably, this is to prevent tampering. It appears the only way to service it is to remove the seat and take the seat apart.

You can get to the front and rear sides of the fabric piece, and it has a certain amount of stretch, so I decided to try to slide something in between the bottom of the seat cushion and switch. My first attempt is a fairly thick piece of cardboard. The thought was that this would take up some of the space between the switch and bottom of the seat, and maybe that would make it less sensitive to slight bouncing that takes place when going over bumps.

I did a brief test ride and tried to bounce a little, but couldn't really tell much difference. So I will leave it for now and see how it acts during the next mowing session. If it doesn't work, I'll try adding a little more cardboard.

If I can't get this to work, I may have to resort to just bypassing the switch. I don't want to do that, because I think it's a good feature, just too sensitive. Perfect example of unintended consequences. Manufacturer thinks they are promoting safety by installing an oversensitive seat switch, but the end result is people have to bypass it to make the equipment usable....
View attachment 919583

Mowed entire yard today with two pieces of cardboard between the bottom of the seat foam and the seat sensor. For now at least, this seems to have solved the sensitivity problem. Did not shut down the mower once from bouncing.

It did shut down once due to me "repositioning" on the seat, however. I can at least live with it now.

Also bagged up some grass for the compost pile and am happy to report that this thing bagged thick, wet grass like a champ. Looking forward to trying it out for fall leaf pickup.....

 

[Runner]

In the interest of full disclosure, and not being one to deny my screw-ups, I must confess that I have hit my shop TWICE now with the Cub. First time, forgot it had a ROPS and side swiped the thru-wall air conditioner with it.

Second time, forgot about allowing extra room for turning with the bagger on and put a nice crease in the corner trim.

Have never run into any of my buildings with any other machines for the past 18 years..... but new machine and getting older.....

No real harm done, but damnnnnn.

 

[Runner]

First use of ZTXS5 54 for fall leaf pickup yesterday. As a refresher, I have previously been VERY satisfied with the effectiveness of the triple-bagger system for picking up grass clippings. I have one large cottonwood tree in the front yard that has lost most of its leaves due to drought and season.

The machine worked well, but did seem to kick a fairly large number of leaves out the front/left side of the mower deck that required a second pass to pick up. I found that slowing down and taking 1/2 swath tended to minimize this problem, but some leaves were still blown out.

The extent of pickup was mostly limited to the cottonwood leaves which were very dry and light, so that may have exacerbated the situation. Also, I am still in summer mowing mode, which means deck height set at 4.5 inches. Lowering the height may help eliminate leaf blowout.

Still need to try out the mulching system, but need to continue collecting leaves for now to stock up the compost pile.

Will report back after trial in more ideal conditions.

I will also note that, due to dryness, the machine was emitting a tremendous amount of dust from the bagger, which of course, is located immediately behind the engine air intake. This situation bothers me, but not much I can do about it except change the filter when I'm done....

 

[drumminj]

The Kohler engines have an outer filter (foam sleeve) which is washable. Do the Kawasakis?