Weight behind the centerline of the rear axle counters weight that has been placed forward of the front axle's centerline. It's the old teeter-totter effect. If you add a snowblower, then when it is in the air it will lift weight off of the rear tires. When you buy any lawn tractor, it is designed to cut grass because that's its main purpose. If you want that lawn tractor to do a different job, then you must redesign that tractor for the new task or it will fail to deliver the expected performance. Trying to find traction to mow a lawn isn't difficult. Trying to find traction to plow or blow snow IS difficult unless you accept the reality that you have spend money to make it happen. Because most of the LT's of today use rear rims that are either 8" or 12" in diameter, it's very hard to add enough in the way of wheel weights to make the needed difference. Therefore, you not only need the wheel weights maxed out but you also need to load the tires with fluid to 80% of their volume. On many tractors, even these two efforts are not enough so putting as much as you can in the way of rear weights on the tractor is necessary. However, when you add rear weights, you are taking weight off the front axle because the rear weights are behind the centerline of the back axle. You don't want to lose steering traction when the snowblower is down on the ground. Steering control can be improved by changing the type of front tires from the turf tread to something far more aggressive. All of this costs money but what's worse??? Spending the money needed to make your tractor do the job or not spending the money and sitting in the middle of your snow-covered driveway spinning one wheel? Don't bother buying a snowblower unless you are prepared to buy the rest of the goodies needed to convert your lawn tractor into a snow tractor. And yes.... chains work but they will scratch interlock, asphalt and stamped concrete.

I wonder if all the people who disable RIO or seat switches repair them when they sell the equipment? The tractor I just bought has the seat switch bypassed and I got no warning of it. If I want to climb out of the seat with the tractor running and the blades spinning, the tractor won't stop me.... If an accident happened who should I sue? Myself for my own incompetence, the manufacturer for making it possible to defeat the safety feature or the previous owner (which one?) for bypassing it? I think I'll just fix the "operator presence sensor" :) As an aside regarding the infamous McDonalds case that was mentioned earlier.... The woman in question suffered 3rd degree burns, was hospitalized for 8 days where she recieved several skin grafts. She is permanently scarred. After the incident she contacted McDonalds requesting reimbursement for her injuries and expenses. She asked for $20,000, McDonalds offered $800. She sued. The Jury determined $200,000 was a suitable compensation but that she was partially at fault so it was reduced to $160,000. The jury also determined that McDonalds' conduct was reckless, callous and willful so they awarded $2.7 million in punitive damages.... roughly equivalent to 2 days worth of coffee sales. See the link below for the explanation of how this decision was reached.

FYI ---UPDATE After removing the mower deck I was able to clearly see and feel exposed wires running to the rear of the mower. After replacing all four wires did the mower come back to life. Funny thing though, the seat switch, while depressed, did not allow the mower to run. It wasn't until after I pulled the switch out from beneath the seat did the mower turn on. The seat switch is somehow backwards. The great news is I was able to locate shorts in both the ground and seat switch wires which turned out to be the source of the stalling when releasing the brake/clutch, engaging the mower deck and when turning the steering wheel to the right. My advice is to look for exposed wires and replace them.

This time last year this happenend to me, wd-40 did not work! After $300 and a lot of time on-line, I got a refund check for $215 from Ford. This is a common problem! A couple of other things to watch for is the rear wheel bearings it is also common for them to wear out, The wheel bearing are covered under 100,000 mile warranty, however, according to Ford the wheel bearing cannot be purchased alone, it comes in a hub assembly which is not covered! Tricky! They ended replacing both rear wheel bearings for the deductible of my warranty $100 vs $250 each! The other is the head. Took the car in for scheduled oil change and found the head was warped. They fixed it, the next week after finding oil under the car, they replace our engine. Good Luck!