[ed2hess]

wtf... safety features are there for a reason! Everyone thinks they are better than everyone else, and they think "that'll never happen to me!"

Ok.. you disabled your switch. You can jump off your mower with the blades running. congrats. It's thursday morning, your shoes are wet from dew. You want to get off to pick up trash. You stand up and your shirt gets caught on a steering arm. Are your ninja skills going to save you everytime?

I bought a new ztr this year. I still have the front weights on. And I extend the rollbar up and use the seatbelt whenever I do a slope.

Maybe most of you don't have a wife and kids that hope you come home that day. Slow the F**K down and value your life.

"Omg this stupid safety feature takes 1.2 seconds to disengage so I can pick up a candy wrapper. I don't have time for this thing. I'm gonna take 4 hours off tomarrow and drive to Walmart, buy crap off the shelf, drive home and spend time rigging up a micky-moused solution to a factory installed safety device"
Idiots...

Taking safety off the seat is a real bad idea. Mine was not working on my Walker and I shut off the blades and thought I set the parking brake but didn't. When I got off my leg pulled the speed control lever forward and the machine plowed into the fence and kept digging into the ground.....not much harm in this case but could have been.

 

[mkroher]

Don't think some have any clue what your talking about, you blast some guy for disabling a safety switch, but a lot of you use a string trimmer without guards, don't have your chutes down on your mowers when mowing or you have your roll bars folded down or you don't wear the seat belts on them. You talk out both sides of your mouth, if your gonna blast some one don't be so two way about it, make sure you practice what you preach.

How do you know I don't practice what I preach? A string trimmer can't kill me like a 1000lb ztr can. I wear the seat belt and use the rollbars on slopes.

 

[MOturkey]

All I can say guys, is that someone a long time ago told me that most automobile accidents were actually due to equipment failure. A LOOSE NUT BETWEEN THE SEAT AND THE STEERING WHEEL!

Same principle applies here, I'm thinking. :hammerhead:

 

[Yard-Ape]

Hello all.....Longtime lurker, first time poster.

I know there are plenty of us who disable safety switches for a variety of reasons. I'm big enough to talk about how and why I do it.

I've got a fairly new Dixie Chopper, and without agitating any of the "chopper haters" out there, I don't have a problem with the way they have their seat switch set up from a mowing safety point of view. However, I have installed a switch in parallel with the seat switch that enables me to bypass the safety an warm up the mower while I'm getting other stuff ready. Yes, it takes discipline to make sure I disengage my safety bypass before I start mowing, but it's a procedure I've drilled into my daily habits.

Dan

 

[Duncan90si]

disabling a safety switch, use a string trimmer without guards, don't have your chutes down on your mowers when mowing or you have your roll bars folded down or you don't wear the seat belts on them.

That line describes all of my equipment. I guess I'm living dangerously. Its all a matter of personal preference. I'll be the one to pays for it if anything happens. (If I had employees it would be a little different.)

switches diabled
no guards on trimmers
no deck chutes
ROPS folded back
no seat belts

Watch, now I'll run my foot over this week or roll my mower. When I do, feel free to laugh at me.

 

[mkroher]

Hello all.....Longtime lurker, first time poster.

I know there are plenty of us who disable safety switches for a variety of reasons. I'm big enough to talk about how and why I do it.

I've got a fairly new Dixie Chopper, and without agitating any of the "chopper haters" out there, I don't have a problem with the way they have their seat switch set up from a mowing safety point of view. However, I have installed a switch in parallel with the seat switch that enables me to bypass the safety an warm up the mower while I'm getting other stuff ready. Yes, it takes discipline to make sure I disengage my safety bypass before I start mowing, but it's a procedure I've drilled into my daily habits.

Dan

The fact that you need to stay on the seat to start the mower and keep it running... is just stupid design. I can get on and off mine, but you need the brake on, and the blades off, and levers in neutral.

 

[americanlawn]

Yard-Ape, thanks for your first post. I hope you post more. This topic is as controversial as politics....which is good. When I used our 2 John Deere 445's for mowing (personal lawn), we had to keep replacing the safety seat switch cuz they kept burning out, and the mower would not operate. Then we began using these 445's for spreading fert only on customers' lawns. (3-point hitch w/electric spreader). Within a week, we 'ROLLED' one of the John Deeres! The safety switch went bad, lost power going up a hill, heavy damage on the machine, leg & back injuries to my employee. So much for safety switches being "safe"! After determining the saftey switches to be UNSAFE, we decided to use these JD's only for spreading dry fert & pulling tow-behind aerators, so we installed "U-shaped" wires to bypass the safety switch ---- main reasons: 1) If the tractor shuts off, we have no control whatsoever, 2) Without a mower deck underneath, there is no saftey issue. My new JD zero-turn still has the safety switch, and I feel safer, but I get p$ssed when I have to get off the machine to pick up "other people's" trash or tree limbs. Safety switches are a good idea (especialy if you're mowing), but when they shell out, I hope it's on flat ground - otherwise, you could be taking a risk.