Suicide Knob

glagen · Nov 1, 2004

All,
I stopped in at a different JD dealer over the weekend and lo and behold he had boxes of spinners on the counter. They all have the "little black tab" in the parts bag. $9.95 so I bought a green one and a black one. Once you install using the black tab, they fit perfectly over the spoke and wheel. I replaced the original one I had. Apparently, all the complaining got back to JD and they modified the original design. I also wanted to thank everyone for all the advice, links and pictures. Great thread.
Steve Z

Dave4410 · Nov 1, 2004

I tried to install mine on a spoke today and found that the machine screws supplied with the knob are not long enough. I could, however, see that with longer screws the knob would fit quite nicely on the spoke.

Gary_in_Indiana · Nov 1, 2004

That must be another improvement in the little plastic baggie I got. In mine I found two sets of machine screws so I could choose between the long and short pair. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I hadn't forgotten to take a picture but was thwarted first by darkness and then by a squirrel. Yes, that's right... a squirrel.

I went out with a big shop light to allow me to light the steering wheel only to find that a squirrel had chosen this weekend to go exploring in the transformer. Bzzzzzttt!!! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Dave4410 · Nov 2, 2004

I installed my JD suicide knob on a spoke today and found that is indeed the intended place for it and the black rubber spacer made the angle right. I also found, however, that even the longer machine screws were not long enough and had to use my own.

Rch · Nov 2, 2004

Watch out for the law of unintended consequences. My suicide knob can get hung-up in a button cuff. Also I have a farm jacket where the knob hooks into the fold at the bottom hem and inferior front/zipper opening( if the front is open )and I'm getting off the tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Dave4410 · Nov 2, 2004

That reminds me of how my half-open jacket catches the backhoe sticks!

glagen · Dec 2, 2004

Whoever said it earlier in this thread is correct -- the spinners sold by the JD dealers do not fit correctly. I have mounted two of them as intended over the wheel at the spoke on an X595 and a 4310 using the black tab they now include. Although I originally thought differently, they really do not fit correctly. Also the screws that are supplied will not fit the wheels so I had to get those elsewhere. Save your money or buy the ones without a JD logo that are sold at Stillwell or Northern and clamp onto the wheels itself. I took the JD spinners back to the dealer. Next time you are in a dealership, take a look at the box these gems come in. Once you see Made in Taiwan, you will know what I mean.
Steve Z

Dave4410 · Dec 2, 2004

I'm with you. As nice as the JD one looks, I too had to supply my own longer machine screws. The knob ends up inside the steering wheel rim and is not paralell to it. It's angled in toward the hub. I will (stupidly) live with it for now because I am not ashamed to say I like the way it looks, for now. A thicker rubber spacer might fix it up properly...

Mith · Dec 3, 2004

Hi i dont suppose you could enlighten me to the name 'suicide' knob - surely there is some story attached to this /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Gary_in_Indiana · Dec 3, 2004

I bought my spinner (green with the gold Deere logo) and it came with the reversible black spacer to give two options beyond no spacer at all. In the same package I also got two each of two different length bolts.

I used the spacer turned for the highest setting off the spoke and the longer bolts and mine is fine on my 4200 HST. I just don't see what all the problems are about. Maybe I just got lucky. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Golfgar4 · Dec 3, 2004

There may be more to the story than this, and if so, I'm sure one of the knowledgeable members will fill us in.

But as far as I know, the term "suicide knob" was derived as a result of the accidents/injuries that were attributed to these devices back in the days when there wasn't power steering. These knobs would be mounted on steering wheels in order to assist with the turning of the steering wheel because it could be so difficult without powering steering. If the vehicle happened to hit a pot hole, large bump, or anything that might deflect the path of the front tire, the steering would whip around so fast that the driver could actually get a broken hand/fingers from being struck by the knob. Or even worse, because of the loss of control, there could be an accident in which the driver and/or passengers could be severly injured or even killed.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

Mith · Dec 3, 2004

yea thats good enough for me - so where do i get one /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Golfgar4 · Dec 3, 2004

Well, here's one place - J.C. Whitney

Of course, I don't know if there's one in the U.K. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Mith · Dec 3, 2004

how hard do ya think itd be to make - looks easy enogh to do on a lathe or am i missing a vital technicality - anyone done it before?
mith

Dave4410 · Dec 3, 2004

I once heard that the device is called a "Suicide Knob" because when you crash, the knob can end up in your skull. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Mith · Dec 3, 2004

the riddle is 'but how?' /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Dave4410 · Dec 3, 2004

I believe it happened when crashing a big truck with a large steering wheel and the driver was thrown against it. Let's talk about something more pleasant, like mowing etc... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Yourkie · Dec 5, 2007

Sorry to resurrect this 3 year old thread thread as JD's black (and green) spinner still doesn't seem to fit many JD steering wheels. There are 2 sets of screws that come with the knob, but in my case both sets are too short.

It looks to me that the knob bracket that fits the black rubber spacer goes over spoke and the bracket then extends over the wheel, but they don't provide any instructions.

It seems like they should be able to make a universal knob design that fits all their current steering wheels and include some basic instructions. The number of posts and threads on something this basic proves that there is something wrong when something this simple doesn't fit without a hassle. The installation isn't that straight forward. You'd think that Deere would include 25 cents worth of various screw lengths that would cover all steering wheel configurations and provide an instruction sheet.

BTW I'm trying to put it on my 3x20.

garth466 · Dec 6, 2007

My dealer had 3 boxes of these things. I brought one of each to my 3120 that was sitting outside and I couldn't get any of them to fit. In hind sight, I should have tried them out on one of the X320's in the show room since mowing is the only time I wish I had one.

marco246 · Dec 6, 2007

When I bought my 4610 in '04 the dealer threw in a green suicide knob at no charge. I put it on at the junction of a spoke and the wheel and it works great. The black plastic or rubber tab has worn out and fallen off but it doesn't seem to matter.

Just bought a 2305. Got no freebie with this one, so I bought another green knob for 10 bucks and put it on the 2305. It didn't fit well when mounted at the junction of a spoke and the wheel in that the knob was angled to the inside of the wheel and didn't provide much advantage. I couldn't see how it would mount to the wheel alone, so I just tossed it out.