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Unchallenged Wrong & Misleading Advice


Dutch

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On the rare occasions I'm wrong when posting in forums (LOL) folks are usually quick and polite to correct me, so I don't much worry about it. I'll also usually tell someone to BE DAMN SURE about what they are doing if it's dangerous, even if I'm sure my info I posted is correct.
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Gretch (sp) got it on the nail. In my effort to run my assembly line there are dumpsters full of manuals created by document writers who know nothing of the process . We do have to be certified to the documents but the document RARELY has to solution to the problem. A working knowledge is required. On the other hand one of the most often used last words of the coveted Darwinian Award winners is Hey WATCH THIS. In an effort to divert that individuals attention from a dangerous activity one may become blue in the face. How do you save a fella from himself. Create a insurance company?
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Woody, I think the key switch is a very poor example of a dangerout situation. I do or do not use key switches, depending on the application. My kids have grown up with these machines and know how to use and handle them. Rule around my place is ask before touching. They also know that friends are not allowed in the garage or near the tractors. A little education and trust covers the situation. By the way, on my 61 Wards, the starter is a mechanical switch, which does now, and always has, worked whether the ignition is on or off. Is this safe? Apparently Simplicity thought so. The most dangerous thing that happens with these tractors, and most of us are guilty of it, is running the mower without a chute deflector. I personally have broken two windows in my house and one in a car with riding mowers. Lucky the wife or one of the kids was not there. Saw my Grandpa embed a piece of wire in my Grandma's leg with a lawnmower. Yet when one looks at the gallery, how many deflectors are present? Most times they are not sold with the tractors, if you buy used. How about all of the safety interlocks that have been disabled? Rod H.
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I think all these comments go to point out that the best safety device is located between your ears. Should my 3310 have a keyed starter switch? Yes it should. Neutral safety switch? Probably. Interlocks for powered attachments like the mower, snowblower, or tiller? Possibly but doubtful. Did it have any of these when I got it in the mid 90's? No it didn't. Were any of them even a passing thought when the 725s I have were made? Not even a little. We have taken this so far(letting the machines "think" for us) that half the kids working the registers out there couldn't make change from two bucks if the item came to $1.99 it seems. I had a Wizard(MTD) lawn tractor that would mow in reverse, guy across the street has the same basic mower but with the interlock that kills the engine if you go to reverse while the deck is engaged. His isn't any safer than mine was, just a lot more inconvenient to use. You can't make these (or any other) machines absolutely completely 100% idiot proof. They are dangerous by their very nature and the jobs they are intended to do.
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. --Herbert Spencer (1891) Kirk said it...
quote:
I think all these comments go to point out that the best safety device is located between your ears.
Billy Jack
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Hi Guys, I think that being patient and polite will always prevail. I think we have all been mis informed at one time or another. I have learned alot of time saving tricks that they don't show in the manuals. Lets face it a good portion of the members here are not pro's so we do the best we can, anyone who would get offended over being corrected needs to chill out. Life is too short to be angry all the time... Jim V.
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Guys, I am not upset. I am only standing up for the right to help answer a question. I am the one who told the guy how to replace the keyswitch with a toggle. I told him how to wire it and what kind of switch he needed. I answered his technical question. I am not the type of person to look for underlying reasons why someone wants to change something from stock. I put a toggle on one of mine because the switch broke on Sunday, and I had a toggle in the garage. It worked fine, so I never replaced it. In fact if I ever get in trouble and need to kill the engine, I can hit that toggle lever much easier than I can find and turn off a key. I flipped a tractor over backward because I couldn't get my foot to the clutch in time and couldn't find the key to shut it off. Bottom Line: Right and Wrong is directly related to usage. What is right for one person may be wrong for another. Rod H.
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Rod, No key switch is potentially dangerous. My main argument against everything you have to say is heed this warning. Kids always seem to do the Unexpected.
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Woody, You have the right to your opinion, same as everyone else on this site. I did not say you were wrong. I did not say that a toggle switch was the right way to go. I did say that there were times when it may be desirable to do something different than the way it was done at the factory. Enough said! Rod H.
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So getting back to the subject of this string of posts. Did my remark about the key switch make me a "disagreeable troublemaker"? I believe I phrased my opposing post in the proper way when I made my original key switch remarks. This is what I wrote about the key switch. I don't think it's worth the effort nor advisable to replace the ignition switch with a toggle. If you have any kids (yours or relatives) around it's better to have the key ignition. Imagine, kid starts tractor and cuts off toes with mower deck, or worse Doesn't sound very overt to me.
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If it's not broke don't keep trying to fix it or sooner or later it will be broke. Anything free is worth what you pay for it This & $1.00 might get you a small Coffee Maynard aka/UCD
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