Back in January I picked up a 2013 Craftsman LT2500 that was on clearance at Sears as they were getting rid of their 2013 inventory. Since the snow has finally melted and I've gotten a chance to use it, I've really enjoyed the mower so far and has made yard work a breeze, except for the inconveniences brought on by the safety switches.
I know why they're there as they air on the side of safety (or they've been sued too many times), but seeing as I'm the only one that's ever going to use the mower and am a competent operator, I wanted to disable them. I hated not being able to quickly shift into reverse to go over a spot again, only to have the engine die. Same thing for getting off the mower and picking up sticks and other debris. I didn't need to keep starting and stopping the engine over and over again which I felt was unnecessary.
I was able to disable the mow-in-reverse switch easily by unscrewing the metal bar that sits next to the gear shift for when the mower is put in reverse and contact is made between the gear shift and the bar, killing the engine. After I took the screws out near the cup holder, I was able to climb under the mower and pull out the bar and disconnect it from the wire it was plugged into.
As for the seat's safety switch, I was able to pull off the seat and get to the safety switch and pull it out. For now I've zip-tied a washer around the the switch's "button" which keeps it pressed as if I was always sitting on the seat.
I get the desired result, but ideally I'd like to be able to put the safety switch back in the seat like it was, and simply install a jumper wire on the safety cable so that I could easily install the jumper wire when I wanted the switch turned off, and then in turn I could easily remove the jumper wire and plug it back into the switch if I wanted the switch active again.
I have zero electrical knowledge (other than knowing this can be done fairly easily) which is why I took pictures to post on here for those that have done this before to comment and give your expertise.
Can someone speak to which wires/holes/openings need to be jumped together to accomplish this? If you look closely they are labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4, or you can simply identify them as far left, middle left, middle right, far right.
Thank you and I appreciate any help anyone can throw my way on this.
I know why they're there as they air on the side of safety (or they've been sued too many times), but seeing as I'm the only one that's ever going to use the mower and am a competent operator, I wanted to disable them. I hated not being able to quickly shift into reverse to go over a spot again, only to have the engine die. Same thing for getting off the mower and picking up sticks and other debris. I didn't need to keep starting and stopping the engine over and over again which I felt was unnecessary.
I was able to disable the mow-in-reverse switch easily by unscrewing the metal bar that sits next to the gear shift for when the mower is put in reverse and contact is made between the gear shift and the bar, killing the engine. After I took the screws out near the cup holder, I was able to climb under the mower and pull out the bar and disconnect it from the wire it was plugged into.
As for the seat's safety switch, I was able to pull off the seat and get to the safety switch and pull it out. For now I've zip-tied a washer around the the switch's "button" which keeps it pressed as if I was always sitting on the seat.
I get the desired result, but ideally I'd like to be able to put the safety switch back in the seat like it was, and simply install a jumper wire on the safety cable so that I could easily install the jumper wire when I wanted the switch turned off, and then in turn I could easily remove the jumper wire and plug it back into the switch if I wanted the switch active again.
I have zero electrical knowledge (other than knowing this can be done fairly easily) which is why I took pictures to post on here for those that have done this before to comment and give your expertise.
Can someone speak to which wires/holes/openings need to be jumped together to accomplish this? If you look closely they are labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4, or you can simply identify them as far left, middle left, middle right, far right.
Thank you and I appreciate any help anyone can throw my way on this.
