NOTE:
The blade con
trol han dle must
be de
pressed in or
der to op
er
ate the
unit. Re
lease the blade con
trol han
dle
to stop the en gine and blade.
TO STOP ENGINE
•
Re lease the blade con trol han dle to stop the
en gine and blade.
•
Dis con nect the spark plug wire as in structed
in the sep a rate en gine man ual to pre vent ac -
c i d e n t al s t a rt i n g w h i l e e q u i p m e n t i s
un at tended.
WARNING: The blade con
tin
ues to
ro
tate for a few sec
onds af
ter the
en gine is shut off.
WARNING: If you strike a for
eign ob
-
ject, stop the en
gine. Re
move wire
from spark plug, thor
oughly in
spect
the mower for any dam age, and re pair
the dam
age be
fore re
start
ing and op
-
er at ing the mower. Ex ten sive vi bra tion
of the mower dur
ing op
er
a
tion is an
in di ca tion of dam age. The unit should
be promptly in spected and re paired.
USING YOUR MULCHER (Optional)
Mulching mow
ers use a spe
cially de
signed
blade to chop the grass clip pings ex tra fine
and then blow them back down into the
lawn. The small clip
pings de
com
pose
quickly be com ing a nat u ral fer til izer that re -
turns much of the needed nu
tri
ents to the
soil. Con tin u ous mulch ing means con tin u ous
free nat u ral fer til iza tion, no messy clip pings
to worry about ever again and the end re sult
for you is a much greener health ier lawn.
WARNING: Your mower is de signed
to cut nor mal res i den tial grass of a
height no more than 10". Do not at -
tempt to mow through un
usu
ally
tall, dry grass (e.g., pas
ture) or
piles of dry leaves. De
bris may
build up on the mower deck or con -
tact the en
gine ex
haust pre
sent
ing
a po ten tial fire haz ard.
FOR THE BEST RESULTS WHEN
MULCHING:
•
Clear lawn of de bris.
Be sure that the lawn
is clear of stones, sticks, wire or other for
-
eign ob jects which could dam age the
lawnmower. Such ob jects could be ac ci den -
tally thrown out by the mower in any
di rec tion and cause se ri ous per sonal in jury
to the op er a tor and oth ers as well as dam -
age to prop erty and sur round ing ob jects.
•
Do not cut wet grass
. For ef fec tive mulch -
ing do not cut wet grass be cause it tends to
stick to the un der side of the deck pre vent ing
proper mulch ing of the grass clip pings.
•
Cut no more than 1/3 the length of the
grass.
The rec
om
mended cut for mulch
ing
is 1/3 the length of the grass. Ground speed
will need to be ad justed so the clip pings can
be dis persed evenly into the lawn. For es pe -
cially heavy cut ting in thick grass it may be
nec es sary to use one of the slow est speeds
in or
der to get a clean well mulched cut.
When mulch ing long grass you may have to
cut the lawn in two passes, low
er
ing the
blade an other 1/3 of the length for the sec -
ond cut and per
haps cut
ting in a dif
fer
ent
pat
tern than was used the first time. Over
-
lapping the cut a lit tle on each pass will also
help to clean up any stray clip pings left on
the lawn. The mower should al ways be op er -
ated at full throt
tle to get the best cut and
al low it to do the most ef fec tive job of mulch -
ing.
•
Clean un
der
side of deck
. Be cer
tain to
clean the un der side of the cut ting deck af ter
each use to avoid a build-up of grass, which
would pre vent proper mulch ing.
•
Mulching Leaves.
The mulch
ing of leaves
can also be ben
e
fi
cial to your lawn. When
mulch ing leaves make sure they are dry and
are not lay ing too thick on the lawn. Do not
wait for all the leaves to be off the trees be -
fore you mulch.
•
It is rec
om
mended keep
ing drive
ways and
side walks on the op er a tors right while mov -
ing. Con
tinue mow
ing us
ing this pat
tern,
hav ing the left side of your lawnmower next
to the un cut grass. Mulching with the cut ting
area of the mower on the lawn avoids grass
clip pings in un de sir able ar eas.
DECK
The un
der
side of the mower deck should be
cleaned af
ter each use to pre
vent a buildup of
grass clip
pings, leaves, dirt or other mat
ter. If
this de bris is al lowed to ac cu mu late, it will in vite
rust and cor
ro
sion, and may pre
vent proper
mulch ing.
The deck may be cleaned by tilt ing the mower
and scrap
ing clean with a suit
able tool (make
cer tain the spark plug wire is dis con nected).
NOTE:
We do not rec om mend the use
of pres sure wash ers or gar den hose to
clean your unit. These may cause dam -
age to elec
tric com
po
nents, spin
dles,
pul
leys, bear
ings, or the en
gine. The
use of wa ter will re sult in short ened life
and re duce ser vice abil ity.
11
Summary of Contents for 12A-463E500
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