Seat Safety Switch - SOLUTION

[the old grind]

Attach mirrors to the inside of each loader arm. (so hopefully out of harm's way) Position one to see the SSQA,and one to see the end of forks, adjusting that for grapple if much shorter. Aiming each to the far side will give a better view.

I plan to try as I suggested in post #15, wired in parallel as mentioned in #16 but instead of a keyed switch, something like this on a bracket I can reach with a toe when standing. It would go 'off' if/when I did.

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[GeneV]

Bull!

I'd like to see you try to pick up ANYTHING with the forks on my Kubota without standing up. There is NO WAY you can see the forks, or have any idea what position they might be in, without standing up.

When I'm mowing with my old John Deere - no cab - on really rough terrain, I stand up most of the time. Just like riding a motocross bike, my knees are my suspension when the tractor is tossing and bucking over the terrain.

Been working on a tractor since the mid-50s...no tractor had a seat belt back then. When did open-station tractors start coming with seat belts?

Probably soon after they started putting rops on them, and then people were getting pinned under the rops in flipovers.

 

[Frankenkubota]

I've spent a lot of time on fork lifts in industrial settings.....all with real smooth floors etc. Not many flat spots here in the woods.

Impossible to see the tips of the forks on my MX without standing. It's a dance for me.

Pull up, stand up, adjust forks, pull up a little more, terrain has changed, stand up, reposition forks, move forward, now the front tire is on a bump. stand up. reposition forks.....

finally I say F it and either harpoon the earth or destroy the pallet.

 

[Smokeydog]

On the M59 the bottom plastic of the seat where the switch mounted was breaking causing intermittent shutdown. Also didn’t like not being able to stand with forks or grapples. Of course it totally failed at the worst time. Took the opportunity to replace the OEM switch to regular on/off waterproof switch. Will use it thief prevention switch.

 

[SmallChange]

I generally really like keeping safety equipment intact, and using it. So far my record with this tractor is unbroken: every time I have started the engine and every time I have moved the tractor, I've had the seat belt fastened. The only time the engine runs with the seat belt unfastened is if I've parked the machine and am getting off or back on, for example to open/close a gate, or put something into the bucket or take it out, or hook up a chain.

Unfortunately, my seat switch is way too touchy, and I inadvertently shut the motor down numerous times by moving wrong in the seat, such as learning forward a little to reach the 2WD/4WD lever. With the seat belt still fastened, this is.

So I soon gave up, and made a short jumper with spade lugs to short out the wires going to the switch. If I wanted to restore the switch function I'd just have to flip the seat up, unplug the jumper, and push the lugs back onto the switch terminals.

Safety equipment that functions badly gives all safety equipment a bad name, and is part of the reason people are so quick to disable it. And I'm one who could use the extra margin -- I'm definitely not foolproof.