8
•
Set height-of-cut on front wheels one notch
lower than rear wheels. (example: set front
wheels at 1-
#
/
4
” setting and rear wheels at 2-
!
/
4
”
setting)
Cutting Leaves
•
When cutting is complete, always be sure that
50% of the lawn shows through the cut leaf
cover. This may require one or more passes over
the leaves.
•
For light leaf coverage, position all wheels at the
same height-of-cut setting.
•
If there are more than five inches of leaves on
lawn, set the front wheels one or two notches
higher than the rear wheels. This makes it easier
to feed leaves under mower deck.
•
Walk at a slower mowing speed if leaves are not
being cut up finely enough to be hidden down in
the grass.
•
If you cut up a lot of oak leaves, you might want
to add lime to your grass in the spring. Lime
reduces the acidity of oak leaves.
Operation
Operating Tips
1.
CUTTING—Best cutting results are achieved
when engine is running at maximum speed and
only about 1/3 of the grass blade is cut. If long
grass must be cut, use highest height–of–cut
setting for first mowing. Then recut the grass at
a more normal setting. If too long of grass is cut,
mower may plug and cause engine to stall.
2.
SHARP BLADE—Begin each cutting season
with a sharp blade. Periodically file down nicks.
Starting And Stopping
1.
CONTROLS—Throttle control, control bar, and
fingertip starter are on upper handle (Fig. 12).
2.
Push spark plug wire onto spark plug.
3.
STARTING—Move throttle to
(CHOKE).
Cover hole in center of primer with thumb and
push once. Lift control bar to handle and hold.
Pull fingertip starter out until positive
engagement results; then pull vigorously to start
the engine. Regulate throttle as desired when
engine starts.
Note:
When starting a warm engine,
(CHOKE) may not be necessary.
4.
STOPPING—To stop engine, release control bar
and wait for all moving parts to stop. Pull wire
off spark plug if mower will be unattended or
not used.
Self-propelled Drive
(Self-propelled models only)
The mower has three ground speeds: number “1” is
slow, “2” is medium, and “3” is a fast walking pace.
Ground speed control is located at rear of belt cover
(Fig. 13).
1.
Move ground speed control to
(NEUTRAL).
2.
Start the engine.
3.
To engage the self-propel drive, squeeze the
control bar against the handle to the
RUN/DRIVE position (Fig. 14).
Note:
Do not shift speeds while control bar is
squeezed against handle in the
RUN/DRIVE position; the
transmission could be damaged. Move
control bar to the RUN/SHIFT position
(Fig. 14) when changing ground speed.
Ground speed can be varied by increasing or
decreasing distance between control bar and handle.
Lower control bar to slow mower when making a turn
