Exmark 850000 AND HIGHER Mower Maintenance Servicing the Cutting Blades, Inspecting the Blades

Maintenance

Inspecting the Blades

1. Inspect the cutting edges (Figure 31). If the edges are not sharp or have nicks, remove and sharpen the blades; refer to Sharpening the Blades.

		2. Inspect the blades, especially the curved area. If
	Figure 30	you notice any damage, wear, or a slot forming in
		this area (item 3 in Figure 31), immediately install
1. Valve stem		a new blade.

Mower Maintenance

Servicing the Cutting Blades

Service Interval: Before each use or daily

Maintain sharp blades throughout the cutting season because sharp blades cut cleanly without tearing or shredding the grass blades. Tearing and shredding turns grass brown at the edges, which slows growth and increases the chance of disease.

Check the cutter blades daily for sharpness, and for any wear or damage. File down any nicks and sharpen the blades as necessary. If a blade is damaged or worn, replace it immediately with a genuine Exmark replacement blade. For convenient sharpening and replacement, you may want to keep extra blades on hand.

WARNING

A worn or damaged blade can break, and a piece of the blade could be thrown into the operator’s or bystander’s area, resulting in serious personal injury or death.

•Inspect the blade periodically for wear or damage.

•Replace a worn or damaged blade.

Before Inspecting or Servicing the Blades

Park the machine on a level surface, disengage the blade control switch, and move the motion control levers outward to the neutral position and engage parking brake. Stop the engine, remove the key, and disconnect the spark plug wire(s) from the spark plug(s).

		Figure 31
1.	Cutting edge	3. Wear/slot forming
2.	Curved area

Checking for Bent Blades

1.Rotate the blades until the ends face forward and backward (Figure 32 and Figure 33). Measure from a level surface to the cutting edge, of the blades. Note this dimension.

Figure 32

48 and 52 Inch Deck

1. Blades front to rear 2. Measure here

40