At a certain point in the past the gov't stepped in and advised, cajoled, and IIRC mandated that riding mowers will have a safety device preventing mowing in reverse. Ultimately riding mowers were produced that offered mowing in reverse after making the operator take specific steps to do so. John Deere's device is a RIO. To mow in reverse on a JD you have to disengage the PTO, then pull up on the PTO switch and then you can mow in reverse. as soon as you stop or go forward you must go through the RIO procedure again.

With JD riding mowers you can get used to the procedure and it becomes second nature. Where it really is a PITA is when the mower is removed and a snow blower installed. There's a lot more backing up when blowing snow and having to re-engage the PTO that often is annoying.

As I understand it, discussing the specifics of defeating these mechanisms opens up the people offering the advice to the possibility of some legal exposure.

Thanks, I'm starting to understand now - I think. In other words, the Gov't. requires ALL lawn tractors to have something like this "RIO"? My Craftsman is an older model and I have not looked at any in a number of years so I was unaware of that.

So, lets say you can't mow in reverse. Okay, I can live with that as long as I can move backwards without pulling switches. Do you have the ability to go backwards without the blades engaged and without messing with the PTO and switches?

With my Sears, if am going forward and come to a tree for example, I simply move my foot from the forward pedal to the reverse pedal but the blade does not disengage. If I understand you correctly, with new mowers, I must now hit a switch before I can back up and then re-engage the PTO in order to go forward again. This that correct?

All current production and for quite a few years have-had a reverse mowing interlock of some sort. Before then riding mowers did not have them.

You can go fore and aft without doing anything other than the go pedal. If you are going forward while the mower is engaged then go in reverse the blades will stop. When you go forward and want to mow you have to re-engage the blades.

Best thing is to go to a JD dealer and do it yourself. Then you'll know how it works.

Just to ad one point - each manufacturer has implemented this safety feature in their own way.

So, you may find that brand x works better for you than brand y. Yet another reason to comparison shop and then test drive!

I own a JD LA115 that came with RIO. I bypassed it. This can be done very easily by just unplugging the wires from the switch and then connecting a wire beween the two wires that were removed. Actually with the RIO you must only push the switch in while backing up or the engine will shut off, you do not have to disengage the PTO.

The JD X3xx Select Series has an entirely different RIO arrangement than the LA series. The PTO is disengaged when backing up.

Pushing the little yellow button to back up does become second nature. Don't even give it a thought anymore. Did curse it at first though...

On the X300, before you push the reverse pedal, you lift up, holding the PTO switch while mowing in reverse. No disengagement.

"On the X300, before you push the reverse pedal, you lift up, holding the PTO switch while mowing in reverse. No disengagement"

Actually... not.

You only need to pull up on the PTO knob (which is the RIO action) and step on the reverse pedal then you can let go of the PTO knob. You need NOT hold the knob up the entire time you're backing up.

You can refer to the Operator Manual for clarification... http://manuals.deere.com/cceomview/OMM161628_H9/Output/Index.html?tM=HO

Look on the LH side of the online manual for Using the Reverse Implement Option (RIO) and click it.

Or go to the dealer and try it yourself.

And doing all that is just a distraction, personal opinion only....

Thanks guys. I think the best thing for me to do is check out a few machines and see what system I like best (although I am thinking about the x300 I am not necessarily set on it). I did go to the Sears website and checked a couple tractors there and read the reviews of the YT4000. Here is a quote from someone's review dated April 2009: "Model #28927. This is a fantastic mower. You can mow in reverse without having to push/pull some annoying button. That is a very important feature."

So, it appears either this particular model is exempt for some reason from this government regulation or the law requiring some form of "RIO" was made after April 2009.

And then, you have the infuriating thing that shuts off the engine, every time you stop to pick up some sticks or other stuff! No longer can you just get off, go pick something up, leaving it running, then get back on and drive away! No wonder batteries only last around two seasons! On an older Craftsman, i finally drilled thru the seat switch and installed a piece of coat hanger thru it. Works now!

Rusty, are you saying new tractors also shut off every time you get off the seat? I know if you don't put on the "parking" brake the engine will stop because it does not have sufficient weight on the seat to detect a rider and that has been the case for as long as I can remember. However, I did not know that new tractors, even when engaging the parking brake, will no longer allow the motor to run when you get off. Man, all these safety features are important I guess but what a PITA!

Newer tractors will shut the engine off when you get off the only if the blades are moving. If you set the parking brake and the blades are nor engaged EVERY LT & GT I've tried will let let you get off the seat without killing the engine.

"Only if the blades are moving". Okay, I understand now.

If you get off the seat when the blades are moving the safety interlock thinks you fell off the tractor and shuts off the engine so you don't get mowed...

You got a bunch of PITA,do gooders thinkin things up. I dont agee with the RIO garbage ,but the other features have been on my mowers for 20 year or so and I dont mind em.
wasnt rio a song? I believe duran duran sang it.

Yea, we all cried like little babies when seat belts were made mandatory. Now we don't even think about them and many never rode in a car without them..

I guess we can whine or we can mow.

While my JD325 was being serviced, I had to mow my lawn with my 45 year old Cub Cadet 122 tractor, which has no safety features. I think the most important safety feature is the seat switch that will shut down the engine in the event you are mowing and get knocked off the seat. I have to mow under some low hanging branches. If I fell off the Cub Cadet for any reason, it would keep on going with the blades engaged! Not a good thing to have happen. Trying to intercept and stop an out of control tractor with the blades still cutting would be really dangerous for anyone.
I can easily live without the RIO interlock, because I never backup without looking first. Cars don't have RIO switches because most people backing up are smart enough to look where they are backing. The same common sense should apply to backing up with a tractor.
Charles Ranheim

The problem i mentioned has to do with using the tractor as a towing-the-cart machine. That infuriating idea of stopping the engine is what i was writing about! I like to keep the engine running, while i get off to hook up a cart, move something out of the way, get off to load branches, etc., into the cart, dump the cart at the refuse pile, go back up to where i loaded it, and get off to do something that only takes less than a minute! The engine stops every time i do one of the preceding tasks, having to be restarted each time! Are folks so stupid that they have to be protected from the sound of the engine running while they unload the cart? One thing that the preceding does---it sells lawn tractor batteries--lots of them, as the frequent restarting is what destroys batteries, usually!
I really like my old Snapper Hi-vac RER, as that faithful old thing just sits there, idling, while i get off to dump the cart, etc, and is ready to go again as soon as i get back on!
Utter madness, on the guvments part! Protecting the foolish, all the while p---ing off the more educated!

I agree, many gov't regulations are in place because someone needs to approve and further an agenda (either personal or political), with no relationship or thought given to real world situations. They may be well intended but naive at the same time. RIO is a perfect example.

My yard is hilly,I set the brake , get off , get back on and wonder where the heck that burn spot in my lawn came from . oh yea the exhaust. SO now I shut er down and set the brake and get off , All my mowers were about 20 years old and a lot of the safety features were already there.

Sorry Rusty, EVERY contemporary L&G tractor-mower I've been on and EVERY one that has a RIO interlock allows the rider to get off the mower IF the parking brake is set and the mower is NOT engaged and the trans IS in neutral (if not a hydro).

The caveat is that all the safety interlock switches must be operating properly and be correctly adjusted.

Which specific brand and model are you declaring WON'T let you do that?

To answer your question, some folks are so stupid that they don't set the parking brake or disengage the mower and then the engine shuts off when they get off the seat. These folks also rarely RTFM and then whine like children when they can't get anything to work.

In America we are so arrogant that we demand that the tool must accommodate the user instead of the user learning to use the tool.

Here's what the consumer safety commision published about reverse operation (this is cut-and-pasted):

"In 2003 a requirement was added that prevents the mower from backing up with powered blades. This feature can reduce the severity of injuries that are caused when an operator backs into a young child by stopping the rotating blades. The standard permits a device that overrides this no mow in reverse feature temporarily. If an override capability is provided, it shall automatically reset when one or more of the following actions occurs: (1) the blade is re-engaged or (2) the engine is restarted or (3) the directional control is moved from reverse. Ride-on machines with zero turn radius capability and machines with front mount mowers are excluded from the requirement."

I believe that some manufacturers were providing this before 2003. The link below is to the referenced page.

Here is a link that might be useful: Consumer Product Safety Commission

"Ride-on machines with zero turn radius capability ... are excluded from the requirement." I wonder why the JD SST machine was not excluded? Perhaps because it really did not have ZTR capability? Seems that the RIO switch on mine shorted out soon after I purchased it (and figured out how it worked) - guess it was not technically in violation :-)

No such nonsense with my Scag Freedom Z.

Ken

No, a backover is not a new gymnastics move for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. A backover is a tragedy. It’s 300 plus little kids a year backed over by a riding mower or lawn tractor, many resulting in amputation. That’s nearly one every day. It’s been common knowledge in the power mower industry for 30 years. I personally hate safety interlocks but... when I sell a mower, the safety systems are verified working.. you never know.

Rio switches just bypass the relay system pn the pto switch thats on the transmission disabling the sw while blades are on so you can go in reverse while cutting. Rio switches do 2 things. Give you the choice of reverse w blades on and use psychology to keep you alert when backing up.

If you have remotely any kids around ever the. U should always be aware while ur xuttn the grash.grass.. dwi limit is only 4 beers.

In my experience the RIO button is a hindrance to safety. I could not keep one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand on the RIO button and still turn around enough to see where I was backing up.

My JD has the RIO switch, but it is easier to simply disengage the blades when I want to back up.