2003 JOHN DEERE skid steer

[DAB]

I have a 2003 JD 250 series II skid steer. The seat belt is a huge inconvenience, has anyone ever found a way to bypass this or disconnect it? You always have to wear the belt. I am all for safety, don't get me wrong, but if just want to jump in and out real quick or sometning it is a huge PITA. I thought of cutting the buckle off but if that does not work then I am out the cost of a new belt.

[appleman]

DAB,
If you cut the belt you will probably have to by a new one. most of these machines have a sequence that has to be gone through to unlock the boom.

I know that it is a pain to always have to put the belt on every time you get out. I hate it myself but what happens if get in a hurry and your foot slips, hits the pedel and you get caught in the boom on the way out?omg

I have opted to live with the inconvenience in exchange for going home at the end of the day.

Just my thoughts.

[chtucker]

Half the machines I looked at had the door safety switch disconnected... Kinda pissed me off as I like that I can't rip the door off inadvertently...

[CraftyBigDog]

Its their for a reason, dont bypass it.

[MrBobcat]

Unfourtunaley i can speak from 1st hand experiance more than once . The few seconds it takes you click that belt is nothing compared to being hurt ...or worse.
In my job towing and showing bobcats all day(45,000 miles last year) , i tell my wife its not IF ,but WHEN i get in a wreck , my fault or not , ..its just a matter of time before it happens.
I was never very good about doing a good 4 point tie down on the trailer ... just plain being lazy. The long i did it w/o incendent , the more i thought to myself its coming. Now every load is 4 point with chains and binders. Cant promise it wont leave the trailer when it does happen , but at least i dont have to go the rest of life saying "if i would have only taken 30 seconds and chained down" ....
Guess i got on a :soapbox , soprry bout that.
Just not worth it to hurt yourself or someone else .

[Rocket]

Yes, there is a way to defeat it and it's rather simple. No, I'm not going to explain how and here is why.

I'm what you would call a safety nut. Don't know why, just am. I guess I always figured that if I played it safe I'd live longer. Now, that doesn't mean I'm not lazy, but I digress. Anyway, one storm I'm finishing up the sand/salt applications as a subcontractor and head back to the shop. There isn't any room to turn the truck I'm in, in the lot so I head down the street to a parking lot on the other side of the next building. The lot is not plowed yet and on the far side is a stream. Well, the parking lot ended a shorter distance than I thought it did and the radius of the truck turn so I end up driving on the ice but since the snow was so deep I didn't see where the lot ended and stream began and I go through the ice.

I head back to the shop and one of the contractor's workers is running a skid. First thought: get the skid to help. So I try to ask the operator for help (he speaks another language). A little confusion follows and I figure out that he is stuck in the machine (how long, I don't know). Now, this is the point where my memory starts getting fuzzy. What I do remember is that he was a bit panicked, as I was (remember, the truck) but I get him out somehow. Now there is an empty skid that is running and the machine won't move in any way (there was a reason their machine had to stay running but I can't remember why).

Well, I'm the apparently the one skinny enough (hey, this was a few years ago) to slide into the cab seeing the arm is just off the ground enough to prevent the door from opening. The last thing I remember was me getting one foot inside the cab and the door being ripped off the machine while my head was still outside. Apparently my big foot hit the pedal and released what ever it was that was stuck. I don't remember much else but apparently I got the truck out of the stream with some help from another truck.

That machine was older and had more than one shortcut. Ours do not. Ours also have emergency exits, etc. (my purchasing decisions were greatly influenced by this incident). It's made perfectly clear when they are hired if I ever find one of my crew creating a shortcut to safety that jeopardizes their own life or anyone near them, they are fired. Not only is it a safety issue, it is illegal. Take my advise, don't try to circumvent the seatbelt (or any safety features). Someone will appreciate it. It might be you, your family, somebody else using your machine, or their family. Accidents happen.

[CraftyBigDog]

:greenange My point exactly.

[irlandscaper]

Deeres have a seat sensor that will not let the boom move as long as no one is in the seat. The seat belt is to keep you IN the machine. We cut ours ONLY because I have bowel issues and it kills me on long days. I do not recommend ever cutting it. Especially if someone new is running it. It only takes a second...