Seat safety switch

I have a Craftsman Excellerator garden tractor, 26hp Kohler, 54" cut maybe ten years old. I
wish to disconnect the seat switch so it will stay running if I get off or lean one way to
far. There's 3 wires black, gray, green that are connected to the switch under the seat.
Could anyone help me with this, I haven't done any changes yet for fear I would really
screw something up. Thanks....

would not recommend you do that, had a 17year old girl last year came to shop in cast etc, prior owner had done that she hit hole fell off unit ran over her foot cutting it clear off just behind all toes, very lucky girl to say least. they were able to reattach her foot amazing. I will not got there cause if we do that in our shop we could become liable. its simple trick but huge liability to tell you.

I understand the safety concerns, no kids and I'm pretty fer'certain that the tractor will go when I do.....

Not real sure how your tractor is setup. But it is an AYP machine.

Raise the seat.

Type 1

If it has a spring loaded bar that goes across the seat frame that rest on coil spings on the tractor. Tighten the nuts that hold the bar in place. If you have this system. They come from the factory set up rather loose. You can tighten the nuts all the way down and the engine will run with you on or off of the seat.

Type 2

A plunger switch is mounted into the bottom of the seat pan itself (you can see the switch sticking down). They are easy to remove. Once removed tape or zip tie the plunger down. Then tape or zip tie the switch to the spring that the seat rest on. Pull as much slack in the wiring as possible and secure it so it will not contact moving parts.

Type 3

Plunger switch mounted on the top of the seat pan. It is between the pan and seat pad. A lot of times it can not be seen or just the bottom of the switch is visiable through the seat pan.. This type you must remove the coushion from the pan. Most are held on by phillip head screws hidden under small plugs. If you do not see any hole plugs around the out edge of the seat pan. Then most likely the coushion is glued to the pan.. Either one the coushion must be removed in order to tape or tie the plunger down.

Then to add. You could have either a "positive" or "negitive" switch. Positive closes the circuit when pressed and allows current to flow, a Negitive opens it and cuts the coil/ignitions ground.

I would only reccomend cutting any wires on the seat safety switch as a last resort to bypass it.

Hi, plowboy and others:
I have a Deere model 212, so not same as yours, but I think many safety features are similar. On mine, the seat switch turns off the whole machine IF YOU HAVE THE PTO TURNED ON, MEANING YOUR DECK BLADES ARE RUNNING. If you want to get off, you need to turn off the PTO. The gearshift also has a switch, put GEARSHIFT IN NEUTRAL if you want to leave the seat. Your machine may be different, but that is the way mine is set up.

Dennis M. in W. Tenn.

And to add to this, I always shut the blades off before I get off, always did since I was a kid, Always.......

Thanks for your input, not similar, wish mine was setup as yours.

Your machine should be an AYP machine. American Yard Products. Very good machines. Do you have manual tranny or hydrostatic? Mine is the six speed manual and just love it. A real beast. Here is the diagram for mine. That seat switch provides a connection so you can start it. The other thing it does is short the magneto in the engine when you get off with the deck running. I don't want to tell you how but you can look at the wire chart

Ran it through the photo program. More readable now.

You can also go on line and download PDF files of the owners and parts repair manuals. They are all free if you know where to look. Just go to the manufacturer's on line site. You will need ALL of the information on the sticker under the seat or along the frame. Model, serial, assembly, work order, and another is production run. This will give you EXACTLY the manual for your machine. Down load it into your smart phone. I have over 120 PDF files in mine. VERY handy !!

One more tip. That fuse is a 15 amp old style fuse like on cars from the early 70s. It is on the left side of the frame under the battery tray. Take the battery out, take the tray out, pull the fuse and make sure it is not half cooked. Put a little dielectric grease on the lugs. That fuse took a dump on my machine and everything goes stone dead. The gas solinoid will not open so you are toast. Just DO it.

Thanks Jeffcat, mine is hydrostatic, wished it was manual. Got out voted by my then wife. So if I read your diagram right, I could just diconnect the gray wire? Am I close to be on track?

Thanks I will keep that in mind, well maybe I'd do best to write it down.

question don't you have to have park brake on to start unit, then all you need to do to get off with unit running is set park brake, deck ofcourse must be off . why are you wanting to unhook it

Black wire ground the ignition out.

The grey is further back. I guess either one will do. If you use one of those little jeweler screwdrivers you can carefully unlock the little clip on the connector on the end of the wire.

This is what I did and I am not recommending you do it....if you do it's your choice, not me telling you to do it. Disconnect the switch and look in the wiring harness connection side carefully. There you will obviously find the 3 pins and something else that's foreign to connections......I removed that foreign object and wala, no more seat problem.

All this safety stuff, and all these ideas to circumvent things..... we drove down to Eureka Springs yesterday, Arkansas, yesterday, turning and twisty mountain roads, favorite of Harleys and other bikes, and coming around one hairpin turn, a deep mountain drop-off on the right side, a woman was frantically flagging down traffic right in the middle of the highway. Seems some other young woman had crossed over the yellow lines coming up the mountain at high speed, on a curve, went right into a Harley, blew it BACK UPHILL about a hundred feet, into the near ditch, thank goodness and not off the mountain. She might have been texting, I don't know. Crushed the bike, crushed legs and ankles and feet, crushed the bike, but the paramedics said the reason the riders were still alive was, unlike most Arkansas riders, without helmets, these two had helmets and leathers and jeans.
I am firm believer in all this safety stuff, no matter how much of a PITA it is. It's all based on tragedies.

"........and how many are caused by folks who have no business operating machinery!