Craftsman 917.258692 manual Mulching Mowing Tips

OPERATION

i J,

MOWING TIPS

•Tire chains cannot be used when the mower housing is attached to tractor

°Mower should be properly teveled for best mowing

performance° See "TO LEVEL MOWER HOUSING" in the Service and Adjustments section of this manual,,

•The left hand side of mower should be used for trLm- ming,

•Drive so that clippings are discharged onto the area that has been out. Have the cut area to the right of the machine, This wit{ resuIt in a more even distribution of clippings and more uniform cutting

•When mowing large areas, stad by turning to the right so that clippings will discharge away from shrubs, fences, driveways, etc, After one or two rounds, mow in Ihe opposite direction making left hand turns until ffnished (See Fig, 12),

•if grass _sextremely tall, it should be mowed twice to reduce toad and posstbfe fire hazard from tided clip- pings, Make first cut relatively high; the second to the deslredheight.

•Do not mow grass when It is wet, Wet grass will plug mower and leave undesirable clumps Allow grass to

dry before mowing

•Atways operate engine at full throttle when mowing to assure better mowing performance end proper dis- charge of matedal Regulate ground speed by select- ing a low enough gear to give the mower cutting performance as wel! as the quality of cut desired

•When operating attachments, select a ground speed that witl suit tile terrain and give best performance of

the attachment being used,

MULCHING MOWING TIPS

IMPORTANT: FOR BEST PERFORMANCE, KEEP MOWER HOUSING FREE OF BUILT-UP GRASS AND

TRASH_ CLEAN AFTER EACH USE

•The special mutching blade will recur the grass clip- pings many times and reduce them in size so that as they fall onto the lawn they"will disperse into the grass

and not be noliced Also, the mulched grass will blodegrade quickly to provide nutrients for lhe lawn. Always mulch with your h_ghest engine (blade) speed as this will provide the best recurring action of lhe blades

= Avoidcultlngyourlawnwhenitiswet Welgrasslends to term clumps and interferes with the mulching action The best time to mow your lawn is 1ha early aflemoon. At this tlme the grass has dried and the newIy cut area wt!f not be exposed to the direct sun.,

', For best resuIls, adjust the mower cutting height so that the mower cute off only the top one..thlrd of the grass bfedes (See Fig. 13) For extremely heavy mutcHng, reduce your width of cut on each pass and mow slowly

•Certain types of grass and grass conditions may re- quire thal an area be mutehed a second time to com- pletely hide the clippings. When doing a second cut, mow across or perpendicular to the first cul path.

= Changeyourcuttingpatternfromweektoweek.Mew nedh to soulh one weekthen change to east to west the next week, This will help prevent malting and graining ofthelawn,

FIG. 13

FIG, 12

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