Troy-Bilt 400 Series - Manuel (Page 9)

•
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 lap ping 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.
Re fer to the Main te nance Sec tion.
•
Mulch ing 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.
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.
ADJUSTMENTS
WARN ING: Al ways stop en gine, dis con nect
spark plug and ground against en gine be fore
per form ing ad just ments.
Height Adjusters:
(See Figure 12).
•
Stop mower and dis con -
n e c t s p a r k p l u g c a bl e
be fore chang ing mower
cut ting height.
•
The wheel ad just ers give
you nine (9) dif fer ent cut -
ting po si tions. Me dium is
the best for most mow ers.
• To change the height of
cut, squeeze ad juster le ver
to ward the wheel, mov ing up or down to se lected
height.
NOTE: All wheels must be in the same height of cut.
•
When cut ting in heavy or moist grass, the rear of
lawnmower may be raised higher to al low better dis -
charge of the grass.
Carburetor Adjustment
Mi nor car bu re tor ad just ment may be re quired to com -
pen sate for dif fer ences in fuel, tem per a ture, al ti tude
and load. Re
fer to the sep a rate en gine man ual
packed with your mower for car bu re tor ad just ment in -
for ma tion.
MAINTENANCE
WARN ING: Al ways stop en gine, dis con nect
spark plug and ground against en
gine be fore
clean ing, lu bri cat ing or do ing any kind of main -
te nance on your ma chine.
Lubrication
Wheels - If your mower is equipped with ball bear ing
wheels, lu bri cate at least once a sea son with a light
oil, all other types re quire no lu bri ca tion. How ever, if
the wheels are re moved for any rea son, lu bri cate the
sur face of the axle bolt and the in ner sur face of the
wheel with light au to mo tive oil.
en gine - Fol low en gine man ual for lu bri ca tion in struc -
tions.
Blade Con trol - Lu bri cate the pivot points on the
blade con trol han dle and the brake ca ble at least
once a sea son with light oil. The blade con trol must
op er ate freely in both di rec tions.
Cutting Blade
WARNING: 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.
•
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 blade sup port which holds the
blade and adapter to the en gine crank shaft. Re move
the blade and adapter from the crank
shaft. See Fig ure
13.
WARNING: Pe ri odically in spect the blade
adapter for cracks, es pe cially if you strike a for -
eign ob ject. Re place when nec es sary.
For best re sults your blade should be sharp. 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. 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. 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. The blade can be tested for bal -
9
Fig ure 12