I just bought a used GT235 lawn tractor. Having had a JD140 for the past 35 years, I'm not used to a mower deck that stops anytime you go into reverse. Have any of you found a way around this iritatring "safety feature" ?

Yes I had the dealer defete it before it was delivered

They jump the reverce switch out I think or unplug it ??????? and it works in either direction

I have a GT 335

Thanks Mike! I'll check with my local dealer.

Joqq, If it's like my LX277 there is a plug at the back of the machine on the left side. Two wires. One end goes to the transmission. Disconnect that plug and put a jumper in the end that goes towards the front of the machine. If that doesn't work put the jumper in the other plug. Or just cut the wires and twist the ones going forward together.

In no way shape or form should you try to bypass a safety switch. Dealers are required by law
to replace any defective safety equipment on mowers. Why, because some body could get hurt and then you can be sued. At the dealer I worked for, a jerk bypassed his safety switch and did get hurt. He tried to sue the dealer and did eventually lose. But cost the dealer for attorney fees etc.

Referring to the 'disengage p.t.o. when reversing' feature, seriously? I could imagine injury from bypassing a 'seated operator presence' or 'park/neutral starter disable' switch, but getting jacked up due to backing up a bit while the mower deck was engaged is a story worth hearing about.

Another brand's new mowers have a feature built into the cruise control that reduces speed drastically if you turn the wheels while cruise is engaged. I notice some of the newest JD mowers are equipped with brake lights and reverse lights too. No word on a back-up alam, but maybe the dealer will install one for you. I don't think the headlights stay on whenever the engine is running (yet). I'm surprised they haven't yet made the move to a mandatory ROPS and a seatbelt linked engine kill switch. Maybe they'll throw in a 'Greenstar/AutoTrac Neighbor's Pet Avoidance System'. The super-duper JD series has a cup holder for your beverage, but no breath analyzer to ensure you aren't drinking and mowing. There's also a plug to charge your i-Pod...which I imagine may lead to the addition of some other creative gizmos to protect the tractor from the operator.

However, I have to agree in this case about disabling safety equipment. If the machine has such a feature that you simply can't live with -- don't buy it. You already know you're going to hate the thing and you'll be letting every friend and interested party you bump into know just how big a piece of junk that make/model is because of that feature. Save yourself the frustration before it begins. If people refuse to buy things that have been specially designed by idiots for morons, such things will go away (remember automatic seatbelts?). Inspect and test-drive every mower, get owner feedback if you can, then buy the one that suits you. For what lawn tractors cost these days you shouldn't have to put up with stupid stuff like that. I looked all around and chose a....blue....mower back in 1996 and after 325+ hours of slaying grass, I couldn't possibly be any happier with it. I recently wore out the ball-and-socket rod ends on the steering. That was the second* mechanical failure I've had. Perhaps they wore out from more than a decade of backing out of corners while the mower deck was engaged? Shoot.


* - The first was a deck belt, which tore and was replaced by warranty the second year. It has worn out: 1 set of tires, 1 set of deck gauge wheels, 1 set of blades, 2 batteries, and the usual filters/fluids/plugs.

All those troubles with only 325 hrs?. It should still be just wearing the paint off the pulleys. The plastic wrap should be still on the seat too.
I'll admit to looking on ebay for LED conversion lights that use the RA-15mm bayonet single and double contact bases for garden tractor headlight, tailights, running lights and maybe brakes. Maybe even for some of the early 12V two cylinders as some of thier charging systems are a puny 11-12amp. Supposed to get the equivalent light of a 35W incandescent from a 40 bulb LED unit.
I did purchase the brake switch for my Mannheim Deere. It will be wired to bring the existing fender mounted warning lights on steady when ever a brake pedal is pushed.

Poking fun at the 'Other Than Green' machine. I should have known better. The paint's still excellent (and very blue). I'm running a 48" mower and there's a lot of turning to be done. That led to the excessive wear on the tie-rod balls and the sideways scrubbing of the deck wheels. I go straight as often as I can and sometimes I'll start in the center of a large space and cut a continuous circle (that technique can really shave time off the job, by the way). Also, to be fair one of the rear tires was ruined by a puncuture and rather than fix it I changed from turf to bar tires for climbing a couple of small banks. When a front tire began to leak a couple years later, I swapped those for slightly more aggressive ones to help counteract the tremendous traction of the bar tires. The original battery was allowed to go dead at the dealership and it didn't last long. The second battery developed an internal short and let me sitting with a half-cut lawn.

Back to the point: it's quite safe. It'll also mow the entire lawn in reverse, if I really wanted to put myself through such a slow, neck-wrenching ordeal.

(I have comments about the lights, but I'll go look up your LED lights thread in the other forum as it's more appropriate there.)

I can also tell you how to bypass the seat and start safety but I won't because those are viable safety features. I can't say the same for the reverse PTO dropout. That smacks of government intervention where thay have no business being. Bought a new gas can lately? Like the "safety features" to protect you from yourself? I don't have kids or puppies running behind when I'm mowing and I doubt I'll fall off backwards and run over myself. If you back over your pet iguana it's your own stupid fault. Don't make me wear out my PTO every three months.

I can't blame the government and I don't want to get too hard on the manufacturers. Most of the truly mindless features come about due to settlements in or out of court. Somebody will invent a a new way to do something incredibly stupid, then that person or a relative decides the manufacturer should pay for all their bills the rest of their lives and buy them a new house, a couple new cars, send their kids to college, set up a retirement fund, set up a vacation fund... Rather than go through all that mess, the manufacturer may just settle for writing a check with six or seven 0's in it. Since the manufacturers can't afford to keep paying out lottery jackpots, they come out with new and improved models manufactured out of foam rubber instead of steel and with safety switches that shut if off if you turn your head, drive forward, drive backward, turn, engage a clutch or otherwise make any attempt to start the engine.


Now, since I'm joining the camp that's being hard on superfluous gizmos that are thrust upon consumers under the banner of 'safety equipment', I do have to recognize that there are safety features that have come along that have a valid purpose. Also, there are many cases where design flaws have caused injuries that were clearly the manufacturer's fault and it's good that we have a system to help legitimate victims get just compensation.



Also, although we love our green and yellow brand, I must point out that having a green lawn mower is a safety hazard because it too closely matches the color of the operating environment. Especially with furry critters that only see in shades of gray. Therefore, you should paint your mowers blue so there's a different contrast in the grayscale which will promote safety to all the furry little creatures. I know, you might suggest another color. Using yellow, orange or red could attract bees, which may result in the operator being stung and/or bees being sucked into the engine or chopped up by the blades. We can't have that with our current crisis with bee populations. If you paint it white, there could be glare that would temporarily blind birds and make them fly into each other. Nope, blue is a good color for safety. You can even go to the paint store and ask for 'safety blue'; I've seen it.

As for the safety of the little furry creatures. Most have green & blue cone cells in their retinas as well as rods for black & white vision at night.
The absence of red cones means that most green shades, yellow, purple/violet, drown, grey & blue object are seen true to colour. Shades of red are seen somewhere between brown to yellow. Visual acuity in the shorter wave length end of the spectrum actually extends past blue and into the ultra violet range where we can't see.
Most birds and insects have full colour vision that extends from infrared below what we can see to well into the ultraviolet band.
The critters also posses a sense of hearing & direction several orders of magnitude superior to ours.
The little critters with the exception of some birds have a superior sense of smell to ours too.
As for speed and reflexes, no contest either.
This leaves the green, yellow & black of the JD being more visible and having more contrast, thus safer than the plain blue machine which blends into the sky as the wee critters look up.

I cant remember for sure as I don't own this model but my brother does and I have used it on occasion, but if memory serves me correctly, just holding up on the switch before going into reverse will keep the mower deck engaged.

For my 345 all I do is hold or pull back the PTO switch. As long as you hold it while backing up, it stays engaged.

Doug

Most of the previous info is correct...but just to reiterate...

1.) YES - it was annoying as HECK!
2.) It is there because of lawsuit-happy MORONS
3.) Most guys in the shop will gladly tell you how to bypass it (not difficult at all) but you should wait until the warranty period is over because anytime a dealer sees it (hope you got the free extended on-site service deals) defeated they have to repair it under warranty...which adds to the cost of those already expensive mowers that we're griping about being too expensive because of this kind of stuff.
4.) By the time you are out of warranty you may find that you are used to picking up the handle whenever you back up.

I started the year with a brand new X540 and never got around to bypassing the switch yet...but now find that I'm so used to it I may not waste the time. Kind of like getting used to hooking up those manual seat belts every time you get in a car these days... :-)