PTO seat safety switch override?

[CaptainU]

Hello,
I bumped the PTO lever on my 3430 by mistake, had taken my sweatshirt off and didn't realize the sweatshirt had moved the PTO lever out of the notch and the tractor died. Took me awhile to figure out what was wrong and I learned a lesson. I can laugh about it now but at the time I was not a happy guy.

Neale

 

[lmiller]

The manual on my 7800 says flip the seat forward within 5 seconds. I haven't tried it cause I don't have any implements that need power without sittin down, but I'll check it out this weekend and report back.

Lou

 

[RayH]

Henro,

You dont need a delay, all you need to do is push down a little with your hand on the seat or armrest as you remove your butt from the seat. once your butt is clear of the seat, flip it forward. It only takes a second which is not long enough shut it off. This action becomes more and more natural to me as I get older and start helping myself up from seated positions.

How are you people engaging the PTO while not on the tractor, thats what I want to know? My clutch is on the left side of the tractor and the PTO lever is on the right. Do I not need to depress the clutch to engage the PTO? Every other PTO Ive operated required it.

 

[RayH]

I'll answer my own question,
Thats what the" hydraulic clutch that allows the PTO to be engaged/disengaged while the tractor is moving" is all about I guess.
Ive got about 50 hrs engaging/disengaging the PTO while operating my backhoe and it never occured to me that I didnt need to press the clutch in to do it.

 

[_RaT_]

You do not need to depress the clutch, in fact, I'm pretty sure the manual tells you to simply flip the PTO lever (at least on the HST version). It also mentions doing it slowly as I recall. This is particularly true with high load implements like mowers where going from 0 to full speed is quite a load. I typically engage my implement first and then bring the speed up. I sometimes use the clutch as well for my mower when I don't lower the RPM first.

 

[MadDog]

Henro:

Maybe we are missing each other on this. To start the tractor, tranny must be in neutral, PTO disengaged and clutch depressed. I was talking about the interlock that kills the engine if you dismount.

I THINK that the 2910 has the same interlock as the B7800; i.e. once you have started the engine, and engaged the PTO, if you leave the tractor seat without tipping it forward w/in couple of seconds of getting up, the engine dies.

The purpose of this, obviously, is to make it impossible for the operator to inadvertently leave the PTO running while dismounting the tractor. The seat tipping override allows the operator to leave the PTO running while dismounting providing he tips the seat forward, a presumably deliberate act.

Doesn't your B2910 have that?

You are quite correct that if (1) the PTO is not engaged and (2) the transmission is not engaged either, then the engine will continue to run when you get off, without your needing to tip the seat forward. That is because the only two hazards that the seat cut-out switch is designed to protect against are (1) accidentally coming into contact with moving PTO attachments and (2) having the tractor moving with no operator.

I take it that, whether there is a safety switch that kills the engine or not, it wouldn't be a good practice to dismount the tractor without being aware that the PTO is engaged. Likewise that it is prudent to require the dismounting operator to do something to make sure that if the engine continues to run with the PTO engaged, the operator is aware of it and it is a deliberate choice.

With a chipper/shredder or a log splitter, you have to dismount the tractor to operate the attachment, unless you have a second person to operate it, and therefore you have to have some way to enable the engine and PTO to continue running. Killing the engine unless the operator tips the seat forward is Kubota's way of accomplishing this when necessary, while avoiding allowing the operator to leave the seat without being aware that the PTO is engaged.

Some months ago there was a thread in which some people expressed the view that the cut-out safety switch was a nuisance and should be overriden so that you could dismount a tractor with engine and PTO running without bothering to tip the seat forward. I still think that that is not a good idea and that having to tip the seat isn't much of an inconvenience for protection against inadvertently dismounting while the PTO is running.

...which brings me back to my point about the PHD: I can't conceive of a situation where I would be comfortable dismounting a tractor with an engaged PHD and I hope nobody else would be either since I can't imagine a good reason for wanting to do so.

 

[RonR]

Mad,

I have found that I like to use the PHD while standing BESIDE my BX2200 instead of on the seat. I have used a PHD on a utility tractor and it is much easier to see/control what you are doing with that configuration. With the CUT, the PHD is so close to the tractor, I can't align with the hole easily, nor tell how straight the auger is.

Compounding that, the 3PH control is on the right side, and the PTO lever is on the left side. How stupid is that?

The best setup we have used is my son stands on the right side of the BX and controls the 3PH, while stand on the left side controlling the PTO.

Our standing rule is NO ONE GOES BEHIND THE REAR TIRES!

So far, we've dug about 20 holes using this method.

 

[MadDog]

RonR:
Probably depends on the particular PHD. I have a Danuser and the boom is so long that I get a pretty decent view of both the auger and the drill site from the tractor seat.

Moreover, as you point out, with the 3PH control on the right and the PTO and clutch both on the left, about the only place from which one person can get to all the needed controls quickly is the seat. Also, in order to get a vertical hole, you often have to move the tractor an inch or so forward as the auger goes down.

I don't have any helpers usually, so using the PHD, like everything else, is a one man show. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

As long as you are both both forward of the tires, I don't really fault your two man method so long as both operators understand the real peril of moving anywhere near the auger or drivetrain. Obviously, the large area of exposed auger and the long drivetrain on a PHD both contribute to increasing the risk of someone coming in contact with moving parts and, as has been pointed out before, if that happens with a PHD, you can get killed or maimed in about a second. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I think that the safety concern is probably greatest with PHDs and tillers. With most other ground-engaging attachments the motion is the tractor's, so you pretty much have to be in the seat and driving it. On non-ground engaging attachments, like chipper/shredders and log splitters, you're not usually operating near the PTO or driveline and the attachment's moving parts are either moving slowly (splitter) or at least partially shielded at the bottom of a feed hopper (chipper).

Last but not least, if you're drilling in rocky ground, the PHD (including boom and drivetrain) can get tossed about pretty suddenly if the auger hits a rock that it can't move. You sure don't want to be in a place where you can get thrown off balance and into harm's way.