# 2003 JOHN DEERE skid steer



## dieseld

I own a 2003 JOHN DEERE 250 Series II skid steer and am extremely annoyed at the fact that you can not disconnect the seat belt sensor. Every time this thing has to be buckled for the safety features. What a pain in the ars. My friend at the dealer says he has not heard of anyone bypassing this seat belt and that he does get many inquiries on it. Anyone disconnected theirs or bypassed it or anything?


----------



## snyps

I would think if it is a standard seat belt, just cut the end off the belt and snap it in. Also it has to be a simple switch that needs to be either opened or closed. Can you trace the wires and just bypas it by jumping the wire.

Keep in mind I have never seen the setup so I am not an expert on this model.


----------



## dieseld

I thought of cutting the end off but if it does not work, then I am buying a new seat belt.


----------



## snyps

In a car for example, it is the simple action of having the two ends plugged in, the belt has nothing to do with it.. there is a swich in the latching mech.


----------



## the_mayor

dieseld;347174 said:


> I thought of cutting the end off but if it does not work, then I am buying a new seat belt.


Can you just click the belt in and sit on top of it or is that to bulky?


----------



## scuba875

I work on a lot of amusement rides that have a belt systems that use a switch and a relay as a safety. It keeps the ride from being able to be turned on if a belt is not attached. If you look at the side the belt goes into, there should be 2 wires that come out of the bottom where it is secured to. Depending on the switch stlyle (normaly open or normaly closed) you should be able to bypass this by either connecting the two wires to each other or disconecting them. If you discontect the two wires put a meter on them and check for continuity with the belt buckled and unbuckled this will tell you what type of switch it is. If you get continuity with the belt buckled then it is normal open. If you get it with the belt unbuckled then it is normaly closed.

If you need further help pm me If we are not that far from each other I could come over and take a look at it for you.


----------



## cet

We have a 325 Deere. My buddy hates the belt also. He found if you bypass the seat belt it only works once. Somehow it knows that you did not undo it and do it back up. We found this by doing it up and then getting in the machine. It started fine but the next time we got in the machine it would not start until we undid the belt and did it back up.

It does not bother me, especially with employees driving it.


----------



## scuba875

cet;347302 said:


> We have a 325 Deere. My buddy hates the belt also. He found if you bypass the seat belt it only works once. Somehow it knows that you did not undo it and do it back up. We found this by doing it up and then getting in the machine. It started fine but the next time we got in the machine it would not start until we undid the belt and did it back up.
> 
> It does not bother me, especially with employees driving it.


Ah a safety built into the safety pretty clever.

After thinking about this more I wonder if it would be wise to do that anyways.

I could see this being a liability nightmare should someone get hurt as a result of this safety not being in place.

Maybe best to just leave it the way it is, I don't know.


----------



## Duracutter

scuba875;347334 said:


> Ah a safety built into the safety pretty clever.
> 
> After thinking about this more I wonder if it would be wise to do that anyways.
> 
> I could see this being a liability nightmare should someone get hurt as a result of this safety not being in place.
> 
> Maybe best to just leave it the way it is, I don't know.


You hit the nail on the head!! Best leave it alone. I know that quite often, i'll be happy the belt is there to stop me from hitting the windshield on my JD 328. I'll move slowly with bucket at near 90 degrees to remove crust and though I'm not going fast, if I hit the slightest uneveness, I'll go forward. Anyways I always find that putting the belt also reminds me of safety whenever I use one the 328's but it's a good thing for employees... and yes, best to leave them in is my advice. Too big of a machine to take chances IMO.


----------



## dieseld

THank you for all the suggestions. I agree 100% with the safety factor for employees and myself, but you guys that own a Deere have to admit that working on a salt spreader or plow or something in your yard or shop when you need to keep getting in and out of it 2-3 times in a row I am ready to shove the seat belt up Mr. John Deere's as$. I just was curious if there was a way to cheat when the situation is appropriate.


----------



## scuba875

I may have an old belt at my shop that I could give you. I changed out two on a free fall ride this summer. I think I might have saved them. I will look and see if it will fit into your buckel your welcome to it. You could use this for when your doing repairs.

I am going up there today if I can find one I will grab it and bring it home.


----------



## cet

Dieseld - What bugs me, you have to pull the seat belt all the way out. If you stop and back up at all you have to retract it all the way and start over. I know what you mean about getting in and out. We load 5 trucks at the shop and if you think one guy would load all 5 that would make too much sense. They all load their own truck.


----------



## dieseld

Exactly CET, if you do not pull the belt out far enough or fast enough, well, you know.


----------



## 4x4Farmer

I know the belt can be a pain in the arse, but when it comes to snow removal, Keep the belt, and Use it. Other wise you will have a broken nose and a bloody windsheild. I would know!, lol. Yes when im doing some dirt work in the summer I will just belt it behind me, but then when you get off the seat sensor before you can operate it agian you have to rebuckel it agian. So thats my feeling on that. Snow, its a must! Dirt work, well I dont feel its that important.


----------



## shaunnshelly

You can not bypass the seat belt safty because there is also a weight sensor in the seat... When you get out of the seat it locks the wheels and resets the seat belt... Just pull the belt accross and latch it in, then sit on top of the belt... When you get into the skid steer just unlatch and relatch to reset the belt then hit your wheel lock button and go... I only latch my belt when I am working on hills... I don't use it when plowing or loading salt.....


----------



## Wesley's Lawn

One word, Bobcat  . Yea thoes JDs are a pain, i usually wear a seat belt when work with one unless im running around the shop and in and out and crap.


----------



## magnatrac

My new holland has the same seat belt issue but I guess it really doesn't bother me. Bobcat's don't have seat sensors but they have that silly bar you have to pull down. Now you might as well be climbing into an amusment park ride!!! Either way you still have to deal with a safty device, so I guess it's really all the same !!!


----------



## ljbev

*bump new holland seatbelt/safety issues*

I know this is an old post but some of you guys seem to be knowledgeable on these seat belt issues. Anyway I just picked up a used lx865 new holland all was working fine. :angry:Then all of a sudden there are to lights on the console flashing looks like parking brake and seat belt. The engine only starts when the seat belt is fastened. However the pedals don't operate at all, so I'm assuming my heavy a$$ broke one of the old sensors in the seat. I checked all the wiring over on the surface looks good all is plugged in. Anyone agree/disagree also if so do you know which one it would be there are 2.

All help greatly appreciated!!!!


----------



## LoneCowboy

does it have a cab?
On my L185, you have to have the cab door closed (there's a switch right where it latches) or the pedals don't work (to keep you from busting the crap out of the door, not really a bad thing)
the engine will start and you can move around but the pedals won't work.

also, sometimes it gets stupid and the "emergency brake" comes on for no apparent reason that I see, and you just unlatch and re-latch the seat belt and hit the parking brake button.


----------



## JD Dave

We have a 320 and I looked at putting a taking the wires that run to the seat belt and mounting them to a toggle switch, so all you have to do is hit the toggle after sitting down and then hit the toggle again before you get out, easier then a seat belt. Because of liability reasons and the fact I never personally drive the skid we left the skid the way it was.


----------



## ford550

They put those seat belts in the machines for a reason guys. It might be a pain in the ass, but if you bypass it and an employee kills himself, are you going to be happy when OSHA and his family take everything you own away from you. You guys are nuts. I have fired people for trying to bypass that kind of stuff. There lives or even yours is not worth the 3 seconds it literally takes to put on a seat belt. Yikes


----------



## Chipmunk

I'm with ford550 here. We have JD 250 here too. Not sure what year. It is a pain in the ass when you have to get out over and over, for lets say moving a plow when your trying to chain it up. Can get annoying.
But I rather have it remind me everytime and be safe than taking the chance to kill myself should something happen.

The only thing I hate as mentioned earlier is having to pull the belt all the way out to belt it up. Otherwise, for some reason, you never pull out enough to reach the latch, so you have to retract it all the way just to pull it back out.

Can be a PITA, but sometimes, ensuring safety (especially as a #1 priority), is always a PITA, but well worth it.

Safety cannot be stressed enough, especially when it comes to employees. Huge liability that an employer needs to think about.

If its personal and non-commercial use. Go for it if you have no liability and don't care for your own safety. However, I understand if your only moving and inch for a few times within minutes and have to buckle up every time. That **** gets annoying, lol.


----------

