16
MOWING TIPS
• Mower should be properly leveled for best
mowing performance. See “TO LEVEL
MOWER HOUSING” in the Service and
Adjustments sec tion of this manual.
• The left hand side of mower should be
used for trim ming.
• Drive so that clippings are dis charged onto
the area that has already been cut. Have
the cut area to the right of the tractor. This
will result in a more even dis tri bu tion of
clippings and more uniform cutting.
• When mowing large areas, start by
turning to the right so that clippings will
discharge away from shrubs, fences,
driveways, etc. After one or two rounds,
mow in the opposite direction making
left hand turns until fi nished.
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• If grass is extremely tall, it should be
mowed twice to reduce load and pos-
sible fi re hazard from dried clip pings.
Make fi rst cut relatively high; the second
to the desired height.
mulcher_9
MAX 1/3
Once rough running begins, im me -
di ate ly move the throttle control to the
fast position. Engine warm-up may
take from several seconds to several
minutes (the colder the tem per a ture,
the longer the warm-up).
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WARM UP
Before driving the unit in cold weath er,
the trans mis sion should be warmed up as
follows:
1. Be sure the tractor is on level ground.
2. Place the motion control lever in
neutral. Release the parking brake
and let the clutch/brake slowly re turn
to operating po si tion.
3. Allow one minute for trans mis sion to
warm up. This can be done during
the engine warm up period.
• The attachments can also be used dur-
ing the engine warm-up period after the
trans mis sion has been warmed up.
NOTE:
If at a high altitude (above 3000
feet) or in cold temperatures (below 32 F)
the carburetor fuel mixture may need to be
adjusted for best engine performance (see
“TO ADJUST CARBURETOR” in the Service
and Adjustments section of this manual).
MULCHING MOWING TIPS
IMPORTANT:
For best performance, keep
mower housing free of built-up grass and
trash. Clean after each use.
• The spe cial mulch ing blade will re cut
the grass clip pings many times and
reduce them in size so that as they fall
onto the lawn they will disperse into
the grass and not be noticed. Also, the
mulched grass will biodegrade quick ly
to provide nutrients for the lawn. Always
mulch with your highest engine (blade)
speed as this will pro vide the best recut-
ting action of the blades.
• Avoid cutting your lawn when it is wet.
Wet grass tends to form clumps and
interferes with the mulch ing action. The
best time to mow your lawn is the early
afternoon. At this time the grass has
dried, yet the newly cut area will not be
exposed to direct sunlight.
•
For best results, adjust the mower cutting
height so that the mower cuts off only the
top one-third of the grass blades. For ex-
tremely heavy grass, re duce your width
of cut on each pass and mow slow ly.
• Certain types of grass and grass
con di tions may re quire that an area be
mulched a second time to com pletely
hide the clippings. When doing a sec-
ond cut, mow across (per pen dic u lar) to
the fi rst cut path.
• Change your cutting pattern from week
to week. Mow north to south one week
then change to east to west the next
week. This will help prevent matting and
graining of the lawn.
• Do not mow grass when it is wet.
Wet grass will plug mower and leave
undesirable clumps. Allow grass to dry
before mowing.
•
Always operate engine at full throt tle
when mowing
to assure better mow-
ing performance and proper dis charge
of material. Regulate ground speed by
se lect ing a low enough gear to give the
mower cut ting per for mance as well as
the quality of cut desired.
• When operating attachments, se lect a
ground speed that will suit the terrain
and give best performance of the at-
tach ment being used.
