I am looking at buying a New Holland LS180, 10 years old but in good condition. However I have heard there are a lot of issues with the seat belt and seat switches on these machines and neither can be easily replaced. What are these for? Do both the seat belt and seat switches render the machine in idle unless both are closed? So if either is faulty the machine won't operate? Do they both control the boom and drive? Is the idea that you have to be sitting in the seat with the belt closed for the machine to move and boom to operate? If there is an issue with just one of the switches is that enough for the machine not to work? Apologies for all the questions...don't want to get a machine that will stop working due to a faulty sensor switch.
the switches are all set up to be "fail safe", so if there is a failure in the system, the machine stops, and yes, you have to be in the seat to make the machine operate, and all the other switches have to be activated in conjunction with the seat switch for it to activate the controls... the switches control everything, even the start mode, as it wont start unless the switches are in the proper configuration.... once its running, a couple of the switches can be opened and it will still run, but will not operate. nearly all machines are set up this way now, but depending on the engineering of the circuit, some are easier to troubleshoot and repair than others.... new holland doesnt make it easy.