your clothes which can ig
nite. Wash your
skin and change clothes im me di ately.
a) Use only an ap proved gas o line con tainer.
b) Never fill con tain ers in side a ve hi cle or on
a truck or trailer bed with a plas tic liner.
Al
ways place con
tain
ers on the ground
away from your ve hi cle be fore fill ing.
c) When prac ti cal, re move gas-pow ered
equip
ment from the truck or trailer and
re fuel it on the ground. If this is not pos si -
ble, then re
fuel such equip
ment on a
trailer with a por
ta
ble con
tainer, rather
than from a gas o line dis penser noz zle.
d) Keep the noz zle in con tact with the rim of
the fuel tank or con
tainer open
ing at all
times un
til fuel
ing is com
plete. Do not
use a noz zle lock-open de vice.
e) Ex tin guish all cig a rettes, ci gars, pipes
and other sources of ig ni tion.
f) Never fuel ma chine in doors.
g) Never re move gas cap or add fuel while
the en gine is hot or run ning. Al low en -
gine to cool at least two min utes be fore
re fu el ing.
h) Never over fill fuel tank. Fill tank to no
more than ½ inch be low bot tom of filler
neck to pro vide space for fuel ex pan sion.
i) Re
place gas
o
line cap and tighten se
-
curely.
j) If gas o line is spilled, wipe it off the en gine
and equip
ment. Move unit to an
other
area. Wait 5 min
utes be
fore start
ing the
en gine.
k) Never store the ma chine or fuel con tainer
in side where there is an open flame,
spark or pi lot light as on a wa ter heater,
space heater, fur
nace, clothes dryer or
other gas ap pli ances.
l) To re duce fire haz ard, keep ma chine free
of grass, leaves, or other de bris build-up.
Clean up oil or fuel spill age and re move
any fuel soaked de bris.
m) Al low ma chine to cool at least 5 min utes
be fore stor ing.
GEN ERAL SER VICE:
•
Never run an en gine in doors or in a poorly
ven ti lated area. En gine ex haust con tains car -
bon mon ox ide, an odor less and deadly gas.
•
Be fore clean ing, re pair ing, or in spect ing,
make cer tain the blade and all mov ing parts
have stopped. Dis
con
nect the spark plug
wire and ground against the en gine to pre -
vent un in tended start ing.
•
Check the blade and en gine mount ing bolts
at fre
quent in
ter
vals for proper tight
ness.
Also, vi su ally in spect blade for dam
age
(e.g., bent, cracked, worn) Re
place blade
with the orig i nal equip ment man u fac turer’s
(O.E.M.) blade only, listed in this man
ual.
“Use of parts which do not meet the orig i nal
equip ment spec i fi ca tions may lead to im -
proper per for mance and com pro mise
safety!”
•
Mower blades are sharp and can cut. Wrap
the blade(s) or wear gloves, and use ex tra
cau tion when ser vic ing them.
•
Keep all nuts, bolts, and screws tight to be
sure the equip ment is in safe work ing con di -
tion.
•
Never tam
per with safety de
vices. Check
their proper op er a tion reg u larly.
•
Af ter strik ing a for eign ob ject, stop the en -
gine, dis
con
nect the spark plug wire and
ground against the en
gine. Thor
oughly in
-
spect the mower for any dam age. Re pair the
dam age be fore start ing and op er at ing the
mower.
•
Grass catcher com po nents, dis charge cover,
and trail shield are sub ject to wear and
dam
age which could ex
pose mov
ing parts
or al
low ob
jects to be thrown. For safety
pro tec tion, fre quently check com po nents
and re place im me di ately with orig i nal equip -
ment man
u
fac
turer’s (O.E.M.) parts only,
listed in this man ual. “Use of parts which do
not meet the orig i nal equip ment spec i fi ca -
tions may lead to im
proper per
for
mance
and com pro mise safety!”
•
Do not change the en gine gov er nor set ting
or overspeed the en gine. The gov er nor con -
trols the max i mum safe op er at ing speed of
the en gine.
•
Main tain or re place safety and in struc tion la -
bels, as nec es sary.
•
Ob
serve proper dis
posal laws and reg
u
la
-
tions. Im proper dis posal of flu ids and
ma te ri als can harm the en vi ron ment.
SI-102
7.23.03
5