# Toro plastic key. Leave in or not?



## steeve725 (Jan 25, 2014)

Just got a new Toro QZE 821 and it has a plastic key.

I'm not real familiar with these types of keys.

I found out that you press in all the way In for it to start and pull out to turn the engine off.

On my toro 721 you had an actual key that you'd turn to the on or off position.

Question. 

There are a couple positions for this plastic key. All the way in, you can start the engine, then there's a middle position were the key just seems to sit there and then fully out.

Do I need to leave the key in a certain position when I'm not using the snow blower? I just realized I had it fully pushed in. Will it harm anything leaving it fully pushed in?

It was easy for me to simply turn it to the off position on the 721 since it was a real key and you had an off position. 

Thanks.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Stick it in all the way and leave it.


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## steeve725 (Jan 25, 2014)

Thanks. I appreciate it.


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

If you ever lose the keys, a coffee stirrer, popsicle stick or a stiff piece of cardboard will work.


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## steeve725 (Jan 25, 2014)

Grunt said:


> If you ever lose the keys, a coffee stirrer, popsicle stick or a stiff piece of cardboard will work.


Good to know


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## Dauntae (Nov 10, 2016)

All that key does is break the grounding of the coil, When you pull it out it connects the wire and grounds out the coil so it has no spark, Push it in and it breaks the connection and allows the plug to spark., Most just leave it in the machine so not to misplace it.


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

I usually disconnect it and turn it off with the throttle.


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## rccrfan1 (Nov 15, 2019)

Some like to push it all the way, others like some in- some out. Others like to pull it out. Do whichever makes you (and her) feel better 


The machine is the her - get your minds out of the gutter !!


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## 2.137269 (Nov 15, 2019)

leave it in,move the throttle to full off to stop


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

87powershiftx2 said:


> leave it in,move the throttle to full off to stop



The 721's and 821's being discussed are single stage machines with no throttle control.


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## Yetiman (Jan 12, 2021)

I have the same 821QZE. In use, I pull it out to the first position (not removing it) to stop the motor. Then I put it back in the run position. 

On all my machines I put the "key" back in the run position to alleviate forgetting to put it in the run position when going to use it again and having starting issues because of it.


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## Sparkland (Sep 9, 2016)

My dealer told me to tie the "key" to something because people have said the key has been lost while blowing snow.


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## tadawson (Jan 3, 2018)

Technically not possible, since when the key falls out, you are not blowing snow, but your point is valid


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