tive and may re sult in per sonal in jury
through con tact with the ro tat ing blade. The
blade con trol han dle must op er ate eas ily in
both di rec tions and au to mat i cally re turn to
the dis en gaged po si tion when re leased.
•
Never op er ate the mower in wet grass. Al
-
ways be sure of your foot ing. A slip and fall
can cause se ri ous per sonal in jury. If you feel
you are los
ing your foot ing, re lease the
blade con trol han dle im me di ately and the
blade will stop ro tat ing within three sec onds.
•
Mow only in day
light or in good ar
ti
fi
cial
light. Walk, never run.
•
Stop the blade when cross ing gravel drives,
walks or roads.
•
If the equip ment should start to vi brate ab -
nor mally, stop the en gine and check
im me di ately for the cause. Vi bra tion is gen -
er ally a warn ing of trou ble.
•
Shut the en gine off and wait un til the blade
co mes to a com plete stop be fore re mov ing
the grass catcher or un clog ging the chute.
The cut
ting blade con tin
ues to ro
tate for a
few sec
onds af
ter the en
gine is shut off.
Never place any part of the body in the
blade area un til you are sure the blade has
stopped ro tat ing.
•
Never op
er
ate mower with
out proper trail
shield, dis charge cover, grass catcher, blade
con trol han dle or other safety pro tec tive de -
vices in place and work
ing. Never op
er
ate
mower with dam aged safety de vices. Fail ure
to do so, can re sult in per sonal in jury.
•
Muf
fler and en
gine be
come hot and can
cause a burn. Do not touch.
•
Only use parts and ac
ces
so
ries made for
this ma chine by the man u fac turer. Fail ure to
do so, can re sult in per sonal in jury.
•
If sit u a tions oc cur which are not cov ered in
this man ual, use care and good judg ment.
Con tact your cus tomer sup port de part ment.
SLOPE OP ER A TION
Slopes are a ma jor fac tor re lated to slip and
fall ac ci dents which can re sult in se vere in -
jury. Op
er
a
tion on slopes re
quires ex
tra
cau
tion. If you feel un
easy on a slope, do
not mow it. For your safety, use the slope
gauge in
cluded as part of this man
ual to
mea sure slopes be fore op er at ing this unit on
a sloped or hilly area. If the slope is greater
than 15 de grees, do not mow it.
DO:
•
Mow across the face of slopes; never up
and down. Ex
er
cise ex
treme cau
tion when
chang
ing di
rec
tion on slopes. Watch for
holes, ruts, bumps, rocks, or other hid
den
ob jects which can cause you to slip or trip.
Tall grass can hide ob
sta
cles. Al
ways be
sure of your foot
ing. A slip and fall can
cause se ri ous per sonal in jury. If you feel you
are los
ing your bal
ance, re
lease the blade
con trol han dle im me di ately, and the blade
will stop ro tat ing within 3 sec onds.
DO NOT:
•
Do not mow near drop-offs, ditches or em -
bank ments, you could lose your foot ing or
bal ance.
•
Do not mow slopes greater than 15 de grees
as shown on the slope gauge.
•
Do not mow on wet grass. Un sta ble foot ing
could cause slip ping.
CHILDREN
•
Tragic ac
ci
dents can oc
cur if the op
er
a
tor is
not alert to the pres ence of chil dren. Children
are of
ten at
tracted to the mower and the
mow
ing ac
tiv
ity. They do not un der
stand the
dan
gers. Never as
sume that chil
dren will re
-
main where you last saw them.
a) Keep chil
dren out of the mow
ing area
and un der the watch ful care of a re spon -
si ble adult other than the op er a tor.
b) Be alert and turn mower off if a child en -
ters the area.
c) Be fore and while mov ing back wards, look
be hind and down for small chil dren.
d) Use ex treme care when ap proach ing
blind cor ners, door ways, shrubs, trees, or
other ob
jects that may ob
scure your vi
-
sion of a child who may run into the
mower.
e) Keep chil dren away from hot or run ning
en gines. They can suf fer burns from a hot
muf fler.
•
Never al low chil dren un der 14 years old to
op er ate a power mower. Children 14 years
old and over should read and un
der
stand
the op er a tion in struc tions and safety rules in
this man ual and should be trained and su -
per vised by a par ent.
SER VICE SAFE HAN DLING OF GAS O LINE:
•
To avoid per sonal in jury or prop erty dam age
use ex treme care in han dling gas o line. Gas -
o line is ex tremely flam ma ble and the va pors
are ex plo sive. Se ri ous per sonal in jury can
oc cur when gas o line is spilled on your self or
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