Engine stalls when blades engaged

[Tinkerer200]

Hi Walt

I have Toro riding mower and I was curious if you would know why they would make it so it slows to a crawl when you turn the steering wheel. It only goes 3 or 4 MPH when going straight and when turning the sharper you turn the slower it goes. It only goes about 1/2 MPH in a sharp turn. 3 or 4 MPH isn't fast enough to upset even in a sharp turn. When mowing I turn a lot and it was so annoying I got rid of that feature too.

Dana

I have no idea but sounds very annoying.

Walt Conner

 

[bertsmobile1]

Hi Walt
I have Toro riding mower and I was curious if you would know why they would make it so it slows to a crawl when you turn the steering wheel. It only goes 3 or 4 MPH when going straight and when turning the sharper you turn the slower it goes. It only goes about 1/2 MPH in a sharp turn. 3 or 4 MPH isn't fast enough to upset even in a sharp turn. When mowing I turn a lot and it was so annoying I got rid of that feature too.
Dana

Easy one to answer.
When used in a dangerious mannar contry to the instructions in the operators manuals some mowers can tip over when turning too sharply at too high a speed.
Mr Idiot Moron gets new mower charges strait into the yard, tips the mower over and severs his spinal column so he can no longer work, pay the mortage feed the family.
Mr Smarty Pants lawer mounts a case against Toro and bumps it around court rooms till he gets a creationist judge who awards a massive damages claim against Toro who are then forced to modify their mowers so no brain dead idiot moron can possibily hurt himself.
We got thousands of Rider Pro's down here after the courts banned them in the USA because if you turn too tight on a slope larger than he maximim allowable mowing slope the mower flips over.
A little latter Husqvarna modified the design and you got the USA only Pro Riders.

Blade cut offs became manditory because of all the idiot morons who shove their hands in the discharge chute to clear a blockage but if you go to your local casulty you will find they still get loads of hand injuries due to operators clearing out the discharge chute with their hand. Then ask them how many brain dead come in missing a finger because they tried to "flip" a belt back onto a moving pulley. All of these clots dissabled the seat switch following the instructions of all the You Tube experts then found out why it is there.
Mowers are very price sensitive so no mower makers goes around looking for expensive safety features to fit to their products.
As for me I would be happy for all safety features to be removed from all mowers then hopefully a lot more idiots would kill themselves hopefully before they had time to breed more idiot morons.

Down here when you take delivery of a new mower, the delivery man takes the key with him.
Your keys are inside a sealed envelope with the message "Read Operators Manual before using mower- serious injuries can result from improper use "
The envelope is stapled inside the instruction book with all of the other paper work inside a sealed plastic bag with a similar warning printed on it.

 

[pajohn]

I think I've found the problem, which is a broken wire under the seat. I cannot find the corresponding end of the wire. The wires go between metal portions of the mower body and seem inaccessible. I will look into this further when I have a chance.

 

[bertsmobile1]

I think I've found the problem, which is a broken wire under the seat. I cannot find the corresponding end of the wire. The wires go between metal portions of the mower body and seem inaccessible. I will look into this further when I have a chance.

View attachment 29941

View attachment 29942

Black on white and white on black are the colours used by JD for the ignition cut out.
One is before a switch and the other is after the switch.
If that bare wire is grounding it might cut out the engine.
For the time being just tape it over .
Good chance it was for the RIO ( rear mowing cut out ) switch and disconnected but not tied up out of the way.
The most important safety switch is the seat kill which is working on your mower.
Tape it over then try to mow.
If you can mow while going backwards it is the RIO switch connection and you can forget about it provided you don't mow with live power wires on the lawn or todlers behind you.
If you can turn on the blades , apply the parking brake then get off the seat without the engine stopping it is a wire from the PTO safety switch to the engine.
All of the engine cut out safetys work in parallel so if any wire grounds out anywhere the engine stops.

 

[pajohn]

Thank you so much for providing this valuable information.

I regularly mow backwards when I get in the rough and overgrown stuff, as it takes 2 to 3 passes to cut it all down (realistically I should be using a brushhog, but that isn't going to happen any time soon). I had no idea that it was supposed to cut off when I did so, but I am the only person on the land when I am mowing, and the worst I could run over is a garden hose or dead branch, both of which I have done, but usually not in reverse.

I will report back after I put some electrical tape on the exposed wire. It sounds like the exposed wires just became pressed against the mower body and caused the engine to ground out when engaging blades.

 

[pajohn]

I taped up the exposed end of the wire and made sure it wasn't touching any metal. I started the mower and tried to engage the blades with no success (same results as before). I was still able to apply the parking brake and get off of the seat while the motor runs, and without the parking brake, the motor shuts off if I get off of the seat.

One thing I noticed is that the drive belt seems to be making extra noise on the back pulley. It is hard to see in there, but I didn't notice anything jammed in the belt or anything. I will try to further inspect it and the wiring when I have time.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Some where on the inside of the PTO lever will be the PTO cut out switch.
It will be connected to the seat switch so you can follow the seat switch wires to find it.
The cut outs are wired
Seat + Brake
and
Seat + PTO

We know the seat + brake s good so that leaves the seat + PTO.
We know the seat switch is working so that leaves you with the PTO switch or the wire between the PTO switch & the seat Switch.

Usually the seat switch will have 1 if not both terminals double wired and it will be one of those wires.
IF it is a 4 terminal seat switch, check that both pairs are open circuit when the switch plunger is depressed as would be when you are on it.

 

[Vonstro]

I'd advise all of you to keep what you do in respect to Federal EPA required controls to your selves and hope you are never involved in a personal injury accident with your mower.

Walt Conner

"Federal EPA"? When I see Federal anything I head the other way, especially the EPA! I don't trust them, I don't like them! I understand what you're trying to convey Walt but we're on different wavelengths here. Glad to know another JD fan anyway!

Eric Haulenbeek

 

[UFOCHASER]

I have a Toro lx500 circa 2006. The engine starts and runs fine until I engage the mower blades. The motor shuts down immediately. THERE IS A BLINKING SYMBOL on the display panel that is not in the manual. I suspect it is signaling the problem. WHAT IS a rectangle with two opposing triangles ? The TORO dealer doesn't know or won't say. I recently replaced the battery, starter solenoid, and starter. Mower ran fine first use afterward....don't want to spend $2k on new mower or TORO repair bill. HELP !