•
Scrape and clean the un
der
side of the deck with a
suit able tool. Do
not
spray with wa ter.
•
Put the mower back on its wheels on the ground. If
you had put plas tic un der the gas cap ear lier, make
sure to re move it now.
WARN ING: Never tip the mower more than
90 de
grees in any di
rec
tions and do not
leave the mower tipped for any length of
time. Oil can drain into the up per part of the
en gine caus ing a start ing prob lem.
Engine
Re fer to the sep a rate en gine man ual for en gine main te -
nance in struc tions.
Main tain
en gine oil
as in structed in the sep a rate en gine
man ual packed with your unit. Read and fol low in struc -
tions care fully.
Un der nor mal con di tions ser vice
air cleaner
as in
-
structed in the sep a rate en gine man ual packed with
your unit. Clean ev
ery few hours un
der ex
tremely
dusty con
di
tions. Poor en
gine per
for
mance and
flood ing usu ally in di cates that the air cleaner should
be ser viced.
The
spark plug
should be cleaned and the gap re
set
once a sea
son. Spark plug re
place
ment is rec
om
-
mended at the start of each mow
ing sea
son; check
en
gine man
ual for cor
rect plug type and gap spec i
fi
ca -
tions.
Clean the en
gine reg
u
larly with a cloth or brush. Keep
the cool ing sys tem (blower hous ing area) clean to per mit
proper air cir cu la tion which is es sen tial to en gine per for -
mance and life. Be cer tain to re move all grass, dirt and
com bus ti ble de bris from muf fler area.
Blade Care
•
Pe ri od i cally in spect the blade adapter for cracks, es -
pe cially if you strike a for eign ob ject. Re place when
nec es sary.
WARN
ING: Be sure to dis
con
nect and ground
the spark plug wire be fore work ing on the cut -
ting blade to pre vent ac ci den tal en gine start ing.
Pro tect hands by us ing heavy gloves or a rag to
grasp the cut ting blade.
•
Dis con nect spark plug wire from spark plug.
•
Tip mower as spec i fied in sep a rate en gine man ual. If
it is not spec i fied tip with car bu re tor up.
•
Re
move the bolt and the blade bell sup
port which
hold the blade and the blade adapter to the en gine
crank shaft. See Fig ure 12.
•
Re move blade and adapter from the crank shaft.
•
The blade may be resharpened by re mov ing it and ei -
ther grind
ing or fil
ing the cut
ting edge keep
ing as
close to the orig i nal bevel as pos si ble. Do not at tempt
to sharpen the blade while it is still on the mower.
It is ex tremely im por tant
that each cut ting edge re -
ceives an equal amount of grind
ing to pre
vent an
un bal anced blade.
NOTE
:
Im proper blade bal ance will re sult in ex -
ces sive vi bra tion caus ing even tual dam age to the
en gine and mower. Be sure to care fully bal ance
blade af ter sharp en ing. Pos si ble dam age re sult -
ing from blade un
bal
ance con
di
tion is not the
re spon si bil ity of the man u fac turer.
NOTE:
Al
ways re
move blade from the adapter
for test ing bal ance.
•
The blade can be tested for bal ance by bal anc ing it
on a round shaft screw driver. Re move metal from the
heavy side un til it bal ances evenly.
•
Be fore re as sem bling the blade and the blade adapter
to the unit, lu bri cate the en gine crank shaft and the in -
ner sur face of the blade adapter with light oil.
•
In
stall the blade adapter on the crank
shaft with the
“star” away from the en gine. See Fig ure 12. Place the
blade with the side marked “bot
tom” (or with part
num ber) fac ing away from the adapter. Align the blade
bell sup port over the blade with the tabs in the holes
of the blade and in sert the hex bolt.
•
Tighten the hex bolt to the torque listed be low:
Blade Mount ing Torque
Cen ter Bolt 450 in. lb. min., 600 in.lb. max.
To in sure safe op er a tion of your unit, ALL nuts and
bolts must be checked pe
ri
od
i
cally for cor
rect tight
-
ness.
NOTE:
Cut
ting grass in sandy soil con
di
tion
causes abra sive wear to the blade.
SERVICE & AJUSTMENTS
WARN ING: Do not at any time make any ad -
just ment to lawnmower with out first stop ping
the en gine and dis con nect ing the spark plug
wire.
Replacing Drive Belt
•
Re
move two shoul
der screws se
cur
ing the front drive
cover to the mower deck. See Fig ure 13.
10
Fig ure 12
Blade
Blade Bell
Sup port
Adapter-Pul ley
As sem bly
Hex Bolt
