mixoilwithgasoline.Purchasefuelinquantitiesthatcanbeusedwithin30daystoassurefuelfreshness.IMPORTANT:Whenoperatingin tempera-turesbelow 32°F(0°C), use fresh, clean
wintergradegasolinetohelp insuregood
,_dAweatherstarting.
RNING: Experienceindicatesthat
alcoholblendedfuels (calledgasoholor
-usingethanolormethanol)canattract
moisturewhichleads toseparationand
formationofacidsduringstorage.Acidic
gascan damagethefuel systemofan
enginewhileinstorage.To avoidengine
problems,the fuelsystemshouldbe emp-
tiedbefore storageof30 days orlonger.
Drainthegas tank, starttheengine and
letit rununtilthefuel linesand carburetor
areempty.Use freshfuel next season.
SeeStorage Instructionsfor additional
information.Neveruse engineor carbure-
torcleaner productsinthe fueltankor per-
nentdamagemay occur.
CAUTION: Fillto bottomofgas tank
fillerneck.Do not overfill.Wipeoffany
spilledoilorfuel. Do not store,spillor use
gasolinenearan openflame.
TO START ENGINE
Whenstartingthe enginefor thefirst time
orif the enginehas runout of fuel,it will
takeextra crankingtimeto movefuel from
thetank tothe engine.
•Siton seat inoperatingposition,
depressclutch/brakepedaland set
parkingbrake.
•Placegear shiftleverin neutral(N) posi-
tion.
• Moveattachmentclutchto=DISEN-
GAGED"position.
• Movethrottlecontroltochokeposition.
Note: Beforestarting readthe warm and
coldstartingproceduresbelow.
•Insertkeyintoignitionandtum key
clockwiseto=START"positionand
releasekeyas soon as enginestarts.
Do notrun startercontinuouslyfor more
thanfifteen secondsper minute.Ifthe
enginedoesnot startafterseveral
attempts,movethrottle controltofast
position,waitafew minutesand try
again.If enginestilldoes notstart,
movethe throttlecontrol beck to the
chokepositionandretry.
WARM WEATHERSTARTING (50° F
ANDABOVE)
• Whenengine starts,movethe throttle
controltothe fastposition.
•Theattachmentsand grounddrivecan
nowbe used.If the enginedoesnot
accepttheload, restartthe engineand
allowitto warmupfor one minuteusing
thechoke as describedabove.
COLD WEATHERSTARTING (50°F
AND BELOW)
• When engine starts,allowengineto run
withthe throttlecontrolinthechoke
positionuntilthe enginerunsroughly,
then movethrottlecontrolto fast posi-
tion.Thismay requirean enginewarm-
upperiodfrom severalsecondstosev-
eralminutes,dependingonthetemper-
ature.
•The attachmentscan alsobeused dur-
ingtheenginewarm-up period.
NOTE: Ifat a highaltitude(above3000
feet) orin coldtemperatures(below32 F)
the carburetorfuel mixturemayneed to be
adjustedforbest engineperformance.
See=TOADJUST CARBURETOR"inthe
ServiceandAdjustmentssectionof this
manual.
MOWING TIPS
• "13rechainscannotbeused whenthe
mowerhousingisattachedtotractor.
•Mowershouldbeproperlyleveledfor
bestmowingperformance.See=TO
LEVELMOWER HOUSING"in the
ServiceandAdjustmentssectionof this
manual.
•The lefthand sideof mowershouldbe
usedfor trimming.
•Drivesothat clippingsaredischarged
ontothe areathat hasbeen cut. Have
thecut areato-therightof thetractor.
Thiswillresult ina more evendistribu-
tionof clippingsand moreuniformcut-
ting.
16