Charging the Battery, Wheel Bolt Torque

Maintenance Instructions

CHECKING/SERVICING

IMPORTANT: DO NOT overfill the battery. Electro lyte will overflow through the vented caps onto parts of the machine and WILL result in severe corrosion.

Cleaning the Terminals

If battery terminals are corroded, remove battery from the mower. Using a wire brush, remove corro sion with a solution of one part baking soda and four parts water. Rinse with clean water. Coat the terminals with petroleum jelly or terminal protector spray to retard further corrosion.

Charging the Battery

Check the battery charge by measuring the specific gravity of electrolyte; if specific gravity is less than 1.225, the battery will need to be charged as follows:

1.Charge the battery at 15 amps for 10 minutes. DO NOT exceed 20 amps maximum recom mended charging rate. Charge until specific gravity is at least 1.250. Total charging time should not exceed one (1) hour.

2.After charging the battery, use distilled water to adjust the electrolyte level to the bottom of the vent wells [1/4 to 1/2 in. (6 to 13 mm) above the plates].

danger

BATTERIES PRODUCE EXPLOSIVE GASES

•Charge the battery in a well-ventilated area, so that gases produced while charg ing can dissipate.

•Keep sparks, flames, and smoking ma terials away from the battery at all times.

•Make sure the battery cap vents are open (check manifold vent on each cap).

•Make sure the battery charger is un plugged before connecting or discon- necting cables to the battery.

Tire Pressure

Inflate tires to pressures shown below:

Deck Caster Wheel = 20 PSI (137 kPa)

Drive	=	15 PSI (103 kPa)
Rear	=	20 PSI (137 kPa)

Wheel Bolt Torque

Check the eight (8) lug bolts that mount the drive tires. Every 100 hours they should be torqued to 75 to 85 lb·ft (102 to 115 N·m).

Sharpen Mower Blades

Check mower blade(s) for straightness, sharp ness, condition of the cutting edge, and balance every 10 hours of operation (or more often when mowing abrasive type grass or operating on sandy soils). Replace blades if worn, bent, cracked, or otherwise damaged (refer to REPLACING/RE PAIRING the Mower Blades in this section). Use the following procedure to check and sharpen blades:

NOTE: Keep blades sharp - cutting with dull blades not only yields a poor mowing job but slows the cutting speed of the mower and causes extra wear on the engine and blade drive by pulling hard.

1.Stop the engine, remove ignition key, and dis connect the spark plug wires before raising the mower deck to service blades.

2.Raise the deck and secure it in the TILT-UPposition. Refer to CLEANING the Grass Build- up in Mower Deck Housing in this section for deck raising instructions.

DANGER

NEVER operate cutter blades with the deck in the raised position.

NOTE: PTO shaft must be disconnected be fore checking blades for straightness.

3.Check the blades for straightness by marking the blade tip position inside the deck housing, and then rotating the opposite end of the blade to the same position and comparing. If the dif ference in blade tip track is more than 1/8 in. (3 mm), the blade is bent and should be re placed.