How to Bypass The Reverse Safety Switch On a John Deere Lawn Tractor

I recently just purchased this tractor and one of the things that I really didn't like about it was that you had to press a button before the tractor would mow in reverse.

In this post, I will show you how to bypass the switch so that you can mow in reverse without having to worry about that button ever again.

This is a very simple job that will only take a few minutes, tops. The only tools or things you will need are a pair of wire cutters/strippers, electrical tape and a small wire connector.

Raise the hood up on the tractor and look under the dash area to find the wire harness for the switch.

The harness is right behind the switch on the opposite side of the button, it's not hard to find. Only 2 wires are going to it.

Once that you locate the harness, unplug it by raising up an ear on the female plug and pull it apart from the male plug.

I first tried using a car fuse as a type of jumper in the harness but it wasn't quite big enough so I just cut the harness off, being sure that I left enough wire to reinstall it later if I ever wanted to for whatever reason.

Next, I stripped the ends off of the wires and tied them together. As a little extra insurance and to keep it neat, I taped the wires back to the harness and plugged it back in place.

Obviously there are many ways to bypass this and this is just one example of how I did it that was quick, easy and effective.

Cutting wires on a new lawn tractor can be intimidating to someone that doesn't have much experience with these things, so hopefully this tutorial may take the fear out of a small DIY project that can make your mowing experience a lot more pleasurable.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my page and please don't hesitate to ask any questions. @bluelightbandit