Electrical gremlin on Grasshopper mower

[Fishy]

Suspect it may be a relay malfunctioning. Not certain just yet.

Grasshopper 227 with a little over 300 well maintained hours. Mowed early this morning and then parked it in the shade to blow dust and clippings off. About half an hour later I started the engine and pulled it into the shop. While the engine was idling, after I parked it inside shop, I went to swing the levers out into park position and the blade clutch engaged and the starter engaged. Surprised me of course. Looked down and the PTO knob was still down. Finally got it turned off after pulling the steering levers in. Pulled the key. But when I swung the levers out again, the starter engaged again.

After a few minutes I inserted the ignition key and bumped the starter. All was back to normal.

Thinking this is related to the hot weather. Never had any issues with this mower before and I've cut lots of manicured acres with it.

Anyone else think it could be a relay causing this?

[Fishy]

Ttt

[Diamond S]

Not an expert, but it sounds to me like you could have two different problems. One with the ignition switch/relay, and one with the PTO switch/relay. I really don't see them running the ignition and PTO thru the same relay. The only other thing I can think of would be the wiring harness has a bare spot and the wires may be touching supplying power to both.

[Strummer]

Never have had that problem with ours .

[Fishy]

Update: I recall now when the symptoms first appeared, the lights were on. I haven't had time to check the wiring. Today I started it in the shop and didn't notice anything peculiar. But I decided to turn the light switch on and, voilà the blade PTO clutch engaged.

[Fishy]

Turns out the seat latch had rubbed against the wire loom and had rubbed the insulation off more than one wire. Just gotta butt splice the wires to fix. I have used this mower on some quite bumpy, uneven ground.

[LFD2037]

Turns out the seat latch had rubbed against the wire loom and had rubbed the insulation off more than one wire. Just gotta butt splice the wires to fix. I have used this mower on some quite bumpy, uneven ground.

Thanks for the update!

[Fishy]

Thanks for the update!

You bet. This is on a 2005 model I purchased new. Haven't compared it with the current models to see if the wires are routed differently. It has been a good machine. What appears to be the cause for this is that the two seat hooks/latches pivot on a small axle and are under spring tension. Sometimes the hooks were binding and sticking out further where they latch up on the frame. This resulted in the wire loom/wires being mashed, which eventually abraded the insulation on three or four wires. It's a simple thing to fix.

Think I'll stop by a Grasshopper dealer and look to see what changes were made to new models. Not planning to sell the current mower.

[bwssr]

Glad it's an easy fix, now i will watch the wiring on my 0-turn...just in case