Craftsman 917.385140 owner manual Mulching Mowing Tips

MOWING TIPS

CAUTION: Do not use de-thatcher

bladeattachmentson your mower.Such attachmentsare hazardous,will damage your mowerand couldvoid your warranty.

•Undercertainconditions,such as very tall grass,it may be necessaryto raise the heightof cut to reducepushing effort andto keepfrom overloadingthe engineand leavingclumpsof grass clip- pings. It mayalsobe necessaryto re-

ducegroundspeedand/orrun the lawn mowerover the areaa secondtime.

•For extremelyheavycutting,reducethe width of cut by overlappingpreviously cut path and mow slowly.

•For bettergrassbaggingandmost cut- ting conditions,the enginespeedshould be set in the FASTposition.

•For sidedischargelawnmowers,cutting in a counter-clockwisedirection,start- ing at the outsideof the areato be cut, spreadsgrass clippingsmoreevenly and putsless loadon the engine.To keepclippingsoff of walkways,flower

beds, etc.,makethe first cuts in a clock- wise direction.

•Pores in cloth grass catcherscan be- comefilledwith dirt anddustwith use

and catcherswill collectless grass. To preventthis, regularlyhosecatcheroff with water and letdry beforeusing.

•Keeptop of enginearoundstarterclear and cleanof grass clippingsand chaff. Thiswill helpengineair flow and extend enginelife.

MULCHING MOWING TIPS

IMPORTANT: For best performance, keep mower housing free of built-up grass and trash. See "CLEANING" in the Maintenance section of this manual.

•The special mulching blade will recut the grass clippings many times and reduce them in size so that as they fall onto the lawn they will disperse into the grass and not be noticed. Also, the mulched grass will biodegrade quickly to provide nutrients for the lawn. Always mulch with your highest engine (blade) speed as this will provide the best recut- ting action of the blades.

•Avoid cutting your lawn when it is wet. Wet grass tends to form clumps and interferes with the mulching action. The best time to mow your lawn is the early afternoon. At this time the grass has dried, yet the newly cut area will not be exposed to direct sunlight.

•For best results, adjust the lawn mower cutting height so that the lawn mower cuts off only the top one-third of the grass blades. If the lawn is overgrown it will be necessary to raise the height of cut to reduce pushing effort and to keep from overloading the engine and leaving clumps of mulched grass. For extremely heavy grass, reduce your width of cut by overlapping previously cut path and mow slowly.

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•Certain types of grass and grass conditions may require that an area be mulched a second time to completely hide the clippings. When doing a sec-

ond cut, mow across (perpendicular) to the first cut path.

•Change your cutting pattern from week to week. Mow north to south one week

then change to east to west the next week. This will help prevent matting and graining of the lawn.

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