I'm glad JD4300 is concerned about safety, and I'm not mocking him as I take safety seriously in spite of what some may say about my altering the safety (lawyer) switches on my 4200 and L130 and offering advice on how to do so.
When I'm on my rigs, I wear appropriate clothing including safety glasses, ear plugs and gloves. When I'm spraying I add Tyvek coveralls, boots, nitrile gloves, and a respirator to the mix.
When I'm weed whacking with the gas trimmer, I add a hard hat with full face shield to the wardrobe. I may not look as cool as my neighbors wearing shorts, T-shirts, sandals and no head gear; but protection from thrown rocks and tumbleweeds debris trump looking cool.
However; some of these switches, no matter how well intended can be more dangerous then they appear. I found this to be the case with the RIO switch on my L130 mower. It was a distraction that took my attention away from looking behind me when mowing in reverse, especially with the heel/toe HST pedal setup that makes precise reverse control difficult. The PTO cutting off when I was spraying was a nuisance as I had to hop on and off the tractor to use the hand gun or operate the manual boom selector valves. The added frustration contributes to fatigue from inefficient work practices, and fatigue can and does cause injuries.
As we don't have kids or pets and I don't lend my equipment out, that means I am the only one who uses the tractors. When I chose to modify these lawyer switches, I did so with full knowledge that I am responsible for my actions. As a result, I do my utmost to be more conscious of the hazards posed instead of relying on the nanny ______ (entity of your choice) trying to protect me. Someone said in an earlier thread that the best safety device is the one between the ears and that includes using common sense.
Now if you want to see stupid, check out the following pictures of a former idiot neighbor who fortunately moved back to the burbs. I've posted these before; but they illustrate complete stupidity on the parents part.
