Hi, I am new to this forum but was reading about a guy that wanted to disable his seat bar safety switch. I know this practice is very very dangerous. However my situation is a bit different. I would like to know if there may be a way to adjust the position of the magnet? you see I have a problem that when I am using the machine, (Bobcat S160) and it bounces, the switch disengages and the machine abruptly stops. you see my belly is about 1/2 inch to large and although I can get the bar down and activated, it is just that small tolerance that happens and when it does, it jerks my head and neck because it is so unpredictable. I must also say I believe wholeheartedly in all the safety devices in all machines, and would never want to by pass them, how ever it seems to me that the engineers who develop these devices do it with a "canned" script, not taking into consideration that not all operators are the same size and/or weight. An adjustment would be great for those of us who use the safety devices, but are not an "off the rack" physique. thank you in advance for any help. Oh BTW, I will not entertain solutions which cause me to modify the seat bar it self, in case I sell it or someone else may need to use it. I know the safety devices are installed after years of study, but in the lab and in the real world.
I too would like to know this, not b/c I have the same poblem. but I would like the bar a little higher so I can rest my arms on them to achieve a smoother control of the joy sticks.
Good luck, guys. The general dumbing down of society scares otherwise sensible people into being afraid to comment on anything that might be perceived as safety reducing. I'm the one who wants to disable the damned safety switches. It's a pretty simple request but no one answered. Over at my motorcycle forum men still have balls. They will answer your questions about anything. BTW, disabling the safety bar is not "very, very dangerous". It only has moderate amounts of danger and when in the hands of ONLY ONE operator it's not a big deal. What's next, no one wants to tell how to use the brake because someone might press the gas by accident? Good luck. Unfortunately, you're on your own.
Ron, Maybe you should give the forum members that are experienced on this particular issue a little more time to respond. As far as I am concerned you can take a cutting torch and cut your safety bar off if you choose to do so.
I'd disable the bar. I bypassed all my safety stuff but have a toggle switch for it. So gettin in and out if I bump something it won't jerk. I had a couple times where the machine just stopped and would do nothing. After that, bypassed to a switch and never had an issue again thankfully
Sometimes these devices operate relays in order to 'verify' a certain sequence is met....another factor in the troubleshooting Plan
Ron, with all due respect, that's absurd to compare equipment and motorcycles when it comes to offering advice for modifying or disabling (OEM) safety devices/systems. In comparing the two worlds, if one were to offer advice, especially advice permanently published in the public realm (internet) for either (machine vs motorcycle), if a fatal accident were to occur, in the motorcycle event the lawyers might (and I mean might) get involved, but it's near certain OSHA will not be involved. But in the machine event, the lawyers as well as OSHA will most certainly get involved. There is no way I would stick my neck in that noose. I once had an operator with a slightly larger belly that had problems with the seat bar on a Bobcat, I simply removed the mounting bolts for the seat bar and fitted a couple of washers on the bottom pivot mounting bolts. This didn't change anything about the seat bar system or switch, it simply changed the angle of the seat bar stop making the bar now slightly forward and higher of its present position giving the operator a little more breathing room.
Ppl Can you message me about what you did. Being 6"6 340 ive been running bobcats since the 90s and i have yet to be able to use a suspension seat or anything soon as i hit a bump it locks throws me into the windshield. Theres not enough leg room to strech out far enough toprevent my knees from triggering it