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My Husqvarna CT151 has a cut-out connected to the reverse selector, that if the blades are spinning and the reverse gear is selected, the engine will cut out. This is a pain as our garden is large with lots of obstacles, nook & crannies which involves lots of to-ing and fro-ing. At the moment I have to move forward, disengage the blades, reverse out, engage the blades and rinse and repeat. Recently we had to replace the cutter blade clutch which was expensive. I don't know if repeated engaging/disengaging of the blades contributed to the worn clutch.

Is there a particular reason why this safety feature is there? I certainly want to know the hazards that motivated the company to put it in before deciding to disable this.

Many thanks!

I have had several customers that wanted that switch disconnected. All I do is make a jumper wire and bypassed the switch. Happy customers. Just don't back over any children with your mower which has happen in our county, so if you have small children around I recommend don't bypass that switch.

And don't mow with live power cables sitting on the lawn either.
There were several rasons for fitting the reverse cut out .
Most center around trying to prove Darwin was wrong .:laughing:

Brilliant, thanks everyone! I feel much more confident about taking it off, I'll be extra careful reversing. The switch is visible from the mower seat and is activated by the gear selector lever and it's easily accessible by reaching under the rear mudgard (don't know the correct word for this!) so should be easy to bypass.

I appreciate all your advice!

reynoldston said:

I have had several customers that wanted that switch disconnected. All I do is make a jumper wire and bypassed the switch. Happy customers. Just don't back over any children with your mower which has happen in our county, so if you have small children around I recommend don't bypass that switch.

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My 2009 Craftsman has two positions in the ignition switch. One bypasses the reverse cutout. My MTD made Troy Bilt does not have this feature. With it, I just disconnected the switch. Well actually my brother-in-law who used to own the mower bypassed it. I installed new blades on my aunt's MTD and noticed it would die if the blades were engaged if I tried to go in reverse. So I unplugged it. She has no kids.

My question is should kids really be following you around while your mowing the yard? Shouldn't they be in the house or a different part of the yard playing? I have a 5 year old daughter but she typically avoids me when I start my mower because it's so loud. Otherwise she keeps her distance due to the noise it generates.

One issue we had at work was these engineers would be walking around the warehouse and would expect people on fork trucks to watch out for them. They thought as long as they were on the "green line" they were in some sort of safety zone. Some of these people would almost get hit then write up a safety incident.

In other words, if you are trying to cross a street where there is no crosswalk, you don't just jump out in the road and expect someone in a car to slam on their brakes a give you the right of way.

If someone who actually drove a fork truck was walking through the warehouse would typically avoid the area of activity and take a different route.

There are some safety devices that are worth while. Years ago I had a '79 Snapper that had only one safety switch which prevented the engine from starting if the blade was engaged. There was no switch under the seat. I did not know it but I had the mower in 5th gear and pull started it and it took off and I had to chase it down!

Hence the Darwin refference.

The only case I know of is an idiot reversing over a live power cable that was temporary connecting to a garden pump.
A lot of these sorts of things get couched in the "protecting tiny children" mantra so every one accepts them without a thought.
Have a good look at the back of your mower.
The gearbox would have smashed the bones of a small child and the spinning belts , rod & levers would have caused fatal laserations way before the deck go any where near them.
And then It is dangerious to go backwards with the blade running on a tractor style mower yet safe to do the same thing on a ZTR ?

it all comes down to common sense when backing up. these lawyer switches,[what I like to call them] are for those who have no common sense. even backing up a mower with the blades off can badly injure someone,especially a toddler.

I've come to the conclusion that if somebody can't figure out how to disengage the switch themselves, they might need it :laughing:

I've got a 2010 Craftsman 46" than was built by Husqvarna and may have the same wiring harness as your mower.



A co-worker has the same mower and told me a "trick". It's probably not a good trick but it works. Near the ignition switch are two connectors. If you unplug one connector the mower stalls. I guess this one goes to the ignition.

If you unplug the other connector, it disables all safety switches on the mower. Sure enough if the mower is running, if you lift the seat up, leave the blade on or have the ignition switch in the "reverse cut out mode" the mower stays running.

I am not one for the "Nanny State" and believe if a lot of the "safety" devices were not there we would be the better for it.
If you end up knowing some one short a few digits because they tried to unblock a discharge chute, blades spinning hen you are constantly reminded that what you are sitting on is dangerious & not a toy.
The sole exception to this is the parking brake/ seat switch combo.
Not because it protects the idiot who jumped off the mower without the brake on.
They diserve to chase the mower down the street, put a foot on the deck and loose it or have the mower run over & crush it.
Because it protects others from HIS ( and usually it is a HE ) stupidity as run away mowers can & do injure people & property who are unconnect to said idiot.

mrfred54 said:

it all comes down to common sense when backing up. these lawyer switches,[what I like to call them] are for those who have no common sense. even backing up a mower with the blades off can badly injure someone,especially a toddler.

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Don't say that too loud, the manufactures will make them so you have to get off and push to back up. :laughing::laughing:

And for Gawd sake, do not mention alcohol as a possibility of the cause of people chopping up their kids because that would be stepping on the toes of most politicians and attorneys.

I plugged it back up. But it is a good way to troubleshoot a mower. Most of the issues I've had with lawnmowers have been on account of a bad safety switch.