Control method and apparatus for a lawn mower or a lawn and garden tractor that includes a programmable controller for monitoring a mowertractor status. A key-operated tumbler lock is tangentially adjacent the second aperture and includes a coaxial bolt member operatively associated therewith positionable between locked and unlocked positions, with the bolt member extending into the second aperture in the locked position. The heating element can be a resistive heater in a coiled configuration disposed in a plane. A metal piece is disposed on each of the two sensing arms.