Seat Safety Switch Modification

I think the seat safety switch that causes the engine to shut off if you try to get off the mower with it running is a great ideal for teenagers and the accident prone....but its an aggrevation switch for me.:biggrin:

So, last night while in the garage drinking a beer and trying to figure out how to install side mirrors on the mower, I decided to modify the seat safety switch to allow the mower engine to remain running, while I get off of it to pick up a piece of trash or a rock or whatever, before I roll over it and shoot tiny bits of trash all over the yard or throw a high velocity projectile at the windows, etc.

It was easy. The switch is connected to a plate next to the seat pan. In between the plate and the seat pan are bolts with springs and sleeves. When you sit down, the plate sits onto the large springs on the mower and compresses and the safety switch "button" gets pushed in allowing the engine to start and remain running.

I just removed the existing sleeves and replaced them with shorter sleeves and tightened the nuts down until the safety switch button was pushed in. Now the mower engine remains running even if I get off of it. I can always put the original sleeves back on and activate the safety switch.

NOTE: I actually do know a person who allowed their teenager to use a riding mower without a seat safety switch. The teenager started getting off the mower to move something and left the blades engaged and the mower came out of neutral and the teen tripped and got 2 of her fingers almost cutt off. Emergency saved her fingers and somehow the teenager got a $10,000 insurance fund out of it. But she still has some nerve damage.

.....in other words, don't do the modification I just described, its too dangerous for you.:biggrin:

If you turn the blades off, and Lock the brake down the motor will continue to run.

I agree, it is a pain trying to pick up a branch and the engine dies. There is a fine line between safety and convience. However I am not changing anything on my mower.

It's one of the first things I do with my riding mowers is do away with the seat switch. I turn off the blade when I get off the mower. Seeing how its my mower I make it convenient for myself not someone else. Now when I do a repair job I always make sure the seat switch works on the customers mower but what they do after it leaves my shop is there business.

Ive had people ask me to eliminate the seat switch, but the furthest I will eliminate it is cutting the wire from the clutch switch to the seat switch. I always leave it so that it will die if you get off with the blades on. All lawn tractors will continue to run when you get off if the brake is locked down, and the blades off

I am 11 so I need it but when I get on bouncy spots I think it affects the engine. I am only 75 pds. Is their anyway to do this just to make it a little less sensitive?:ashamed:

A switch is a switch, either on or off.

Funny story I use a 10 pound weight and a canoe seat.

That's not funny, just an accident waiting to happen.

I don't get it. If I get up it still stalls, even when I hit a bump, and the way my seat is, it can't move unless you get air born, which I don't plan on doing:smile: