Thinking about disabling the seat switch

[Dan Hunter]

Yep, I'm thinking about jumping the switch. My ranch is quite rugged and I set the switch off a bunch in just 12 hours. I never release the seatbelt (flame-on) until shutting off the engine so why do I need it?

 

[Mathias NY]

No doubt this will attract some criticism from the safety conscious readers.

I had this same conversation with a coworker who was horrified that I had bypassed the seat switch on my own tractor. My reasoning was that I owned 5 other tractors that didn't have seat switches and since my wife and I are the only operators, there wasn't much benefit to it. Three years later, I still haven't found a down side to bypassing the switch.

If you are the only operator, there is probably no issue with it. If you are not the only operator or have children around, it is probably not as good an idea. In the case of my coworker, he had children around the machine and did not want to risk them getting hurt.

Good luck.

 

[murphy1244]

My Kioti doesn't even have a seat switch.

 

[Qapla]

My tractor used to have a seat switch that was eliminated before we got it. The tractor is 40 hp and will not move without the pedal being pressed.

My truck was not made with a seat switch. It has far more hp and will run away if the brake is not pressed while in gear - and no one is complaining that their much more powerful, faster, and easily propelled cars and trucks do not have a switch that shuts them down every time we open the door, get out or move around to get our wallet out of our pocket ... but bypass a switch that was never used on older tractors and some will "hit the roof" claiming that all sorts of problems, injuries and accidents are certain to befall you if you do not have a functioning seat switch that will shut your tractor down if you move wrong ...

OK, I will stop rambling now ...

 

[MikeInEburg]

... I never release the seatbelt (flame-on) until shutting off the engine so why do I need it?

I'm curious as to how the switch could ever activate if you're in the seat with belt fastened. For me, it would be a non-issue.

 

[Tig]

After I did some major work on the riding mower it started to shut off on me. Seems I had reconnected a safety interlock that had long been disabled. Now I have to set the brake before I get off.
I don't disable safety switches on principle, but the again I have not had problems with false triggers. My kubota does not have a switch.
Is there any adjustment on the switch?

 

[tractchores]

I found my tractor shutting off all the time when I was getting on and off for work because of an overly sensitive HST safety relay. To solve it I put a zip tie in place that I can loop around the seat safety switch if I want to. I like this approach because for certain types of work (mulching) I get on and off constantly and it drives me nuts if the tractor shuts off, but other times (hills) I really want the tractor to shut off if I roll it over on top of myself.

Keep in mind that with ROPS and a seatbelt the safety switch will likely kill the motor if you're on your side and your weight is off the seat. You REALLY want this to happen because you don't want to be trapped (say your arm gets stuck or you're injured) under a runaway engine.

 

[whistlepig]

To me it is the equivalent of a "Dead Mans Switch". Been around a long time and there is a good reason for it.

 

[Wagtail]

Oh for crying out LOUD! How many more of these "I Want To Disable The Operator-Not-In-Seat Safety Interlock" because it's annoying? We had two of these threads just the other week.

I've given my advice NOT to do it & very good reasons why in the "Operator-Not-In-Seat" thread and I really don't want to constantly have to repeat myself. The switch is there for a reason, cheat it at your own peril. You may never encounter a situation where the interlock would save you from harm and/or death... Lucky you.

Tell that to the person (reported last week) that was mowing & was attacked by yellowjackets. He instictively got off the rig to get away - no seat interlock - and got run down.

That being said, have you discussed this with your JD Service Department? Perhaps they have a solution to making the switch less sensitive.

 

[Sfrankland]

I had to deactivate mine because the seat would get that cold in winter you couldn't put enough weight on it to start the tractor.

 

[whistlepig]

If you never need it you will never know the difference.

 

[Shamus M]

the safety seat switch is for corporate joes

 

[crazyal]

It's a free country, at least I think it still is. I still have mine connected on my Kubota but not on my Troy Built Riding mower.

 

[scobrado]

I have an override switch for the seat switch when using the PTO and I park the tractor with a security setting so the tractor won't move because there appears to be no operator in the seat. JD4105: Operating PTO Off Tractor Seat - Page 2

 

[JerryK]

I have never owned a tractor of any type that had a seat switch that was not bypassed right after I got it home ....

 

[BuilderML]

Day 1 tractor arrived, day 1 1/2 switch removed, day 2 tractor cuts the grass on its own.:laughing:

 

[avc8130]

I removed mine. I got completely sick of the machine shutting off every time I went to enter a pallet or do something precise with the loader and moved around for a clear view.

ac

 

[Dan Hunter]

I'm curious as to how the switch could ever activate if you're in the seat with belt fastened. For me, it would be a non-issue.

The only thing I can think of is that when the seat is bottomed on a bounce and I start to rise with the seat that the suspension sticks a bit before rising as well.

 

[Dan Hunter]

I really don't want to constantly have to repeat myself.

Hey, you didn't have to reply at all.

 

[Don87]

I disabled my seat switch within 2 weeks of owning the machine.