# John Deere Lawn Tractor Owners: Lost Key? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 3, 2021, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-deere-lawn-tractor-owners-lost-key/941316 "2021-05-03T19:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ptolomy57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Ptolomy57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ptolomy57)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-deere-lawn-tractor-owners-lost-key/941316/1 "2021-05-03T19:53:17Z")
I misplaced my one and only key to my L-100 John Deere Lawn Tractor. If it does not show up, (a) how can I get a replacement and (b) can I use a screwdriver in lieu of a key to start my tractor? What have others done when in the same predicament? (Note: If it matters, my mower is like 15 years old now.) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-deere-lawn-tractor-owners-lost-key/941316/2 "2021-05-03T20:01:10Z")
I’m pretty sure you can just up and buy a new tractor key. They aren’t specific to the machine. Here’s one: [https://www.lowes.com/pd/John-Deere-Tractor-Key/1000594583](https://www.lowes.com/pd/John-Deere-Tractor-Key/1000594583) ---
**Author:** ![Ptolomy57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Ptolomy57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ptolomy57)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-deere-lawn-tractor-owners-lost-key/941316/3 "2021-05-03T23:08:32Z")
Dung\_Beetle - That’s awesome! Good to know! I have few more spots to check around the house. I was rushing to finish the lawn and get ready to BBQ (last weekend) when I set the key down absent-mindedly. Lesson learned! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-deere-lawn-tractor-owners-lost-key/941316/4 "2021-05-03T23:28:49Z")
Fun anecdote: Long time ago, I worked on a green pea harvesting crew. About half the tractors were John Deeres. The night shift for some reason took all the tractor keys, leaving us all idle. One of our crew had the key on his ring to his family’s JD, so he started all the JD tractors (didn’t even have to leave the key in!). A couple hours later they managed to track down the idiots and get the keys back, but in the mean time, only the green tractors were harvesting green peas. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-deere-lawn-tractor-owners-lost-key/941316/5 "2021-05-04T11:51:21Z")
We never remove the key from our JD. If we’re not mowing, it’s parked in our garden shed. We’ve lived here 17 years and no one has stolen anything from the shed yet. Is it a problem in other places? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-deere-lawn-tractor-owners-lost-key/941316/6 "2021-05-04T12:58:25Z")
I never remove the key from my lawn tractor. It’s kept in a locked garage with my other lawn tools. Ignition switches will go bad. Anyone can buy a new ignition switch for their lawn tractor. It’ll come with a key. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-deere-lawn-tractor-owners-lost-key/941316/7 "2021-05-05T02:45:08Z")
When the ignition got so loose so the key would jiggle out on my 50 year old Yanmar tractor, we took off the old key-start and put a push-button start in. Got rid of the key altogether. StG