must be off, the parking brake must be engaged, and both steering levers must be opened-out to the side in the neutral position. Once the engine is started, the seat must be occupied and the parking brake must be released before either of the steering levers is folded up to the operating position or the engine’s electronic ignition will be grounded out and the engine will stop. Also, the seat must be occupied before the blade clutch switch can cause the blades to rotate.
8.Safety Switch Operation Checks: The fol- lowing operational checks should be made daily.
a.Blade Clutch Switch: Sit in the operator’s seat. With both steering levers opened-out in the neutral position and the parking brake engaged, turn the blade clutch switch “on” and try to start the engine. The engine should not start. If it does, the blade clutch switch must be replaced. If the engine does not start, turn the blade clutch switch “off” and start the engine. Now turn the blade clutch switch “on” and the blades should rotate. If the blades do not turn, the blade clutch switch must be replaced, the seat switch must be replaced or the elec- tric PTO clutch must be repaired. The air- gap should be checked every 200 hrs. (or less, if severe operating conditions exist such as when there are many on/off cycles, mulching operations, material col- lection systems used, and dusty/dirty con- ditions), and the air-gap adjusted if more than 0.035". To inspect, remove the “nega- tive” cable from the battery and all spark- plug wires. The air-gap should be checked with feeler gages in the three slots of the BBC. The air-gap should be adjusted to 0.013" to 0.015". There are three inspec- tion slots I the brake cover. To adjust, suc- cessively tighten each of the three gap adjustment nuts an equal amount. Insert a feeler gage (0.013" to 0.015") into each slot as the air gap adjustment nut are tight- ened. The correct adjustment occurs when slight contact with the feeler gage occurs. Engage the BBC a couple of times, and re- check the air-gap. If it is not between 0.013" and 0.015", repeat the adjustment procedure.
b.Parking Brake Switch: Sit in the opera- tor’s seat. With both steering levers opened-out in the neutral position and the blade clutch switch “off”, release the park- ing brake and try to start the engine. The engine should not start. If it does, the park-
ing brake switch must be repositioned or perhaps replaced. If the engine does not start, engage the parking brake and start the engine. Swing one steering lever up to the operating position and the engine should stop. If the engine does not stop, the parking brake switch must be reposi- tioned or replaced.
c.Left and Right Steering Lever Switches: Sit in the operator’s seat. With both steer- ing levers opened-out in the neutral posi- tion, the parking brake engaged and the blade clutch switch “off”, swing the left steering lever up to the operating position and try to start the engine. The engine should not start. If it does, the left steering lever switch must be repositioned or per- haps replaced. Open the left steering lever to the neutral position and swing the right steering lever up to the operating position and try to start the engine. The engine should not start. If it does, the right steer- ing lever switch must be repositioned or perhaps replaced. If the engine does not start, open the right steering lever to the neutral position and start the engine. Swing the left steering lever up to the oper- ating position and the engine should stop. If the engine does not stop, the left steering lever switch must be repositioned or replaced. Open the left steering lever out to the neutral position and start the engine. Swing the right steering lever up to the operating position and the engine should stop. If the engine does not stop, the right steering lever switch must be repositioned or replaced.
d.Seat Switch: With both steering levers opened-out to the neutral position, the parking brake engaged and the blade clutch switch in the “off” position, start the engine. Now release the parking brake, hold down on the back of the operator’s seat against spring pressure, and swing one of the steering levers up to the operat- ing position. Release the operator’s seat and the engine should stop. If the engine does not stop, the seat switch must be replaced. With both steering levers folded out in the neutral position, the parking brake engaged and the blade clutch switch in the “off” position, sit in the operator’s seat and start the engine. Turn the blade clutch switch to the “on” position and the blades should start to rotate. Raise up slightly off the operator’s seat and the blades should stop. If the blades do not
