Safety
damage and make repairs before restarting and operating the mower).
–Before clearing blockages.
–Whenever you leave the mower.
•Stop engine, wait for all moving parts to stop, and engage parking brake:
–Before changing tanks.
–Before dumping the grass catcher.
–Before making height adjustments.
WARNING
Hands, feet, hair, clothing, or accessories can become entangled in rotating parts. Contact with the rotating parts can cause traumatic amputation or severe lacerations.
•Do Not operate the machine without guards, shields, and safety devices in place and working properly.
•Keep hands, feet, hair, jewelry, or clothing away from rotating parts.
•DO NOT operate the mower when people, especially children, or pets are in the area.
•Be alert, slow down and use caution when making turns. Look behind and to the side before changing directions.
•Stop the blades, slow down, and use caution when crossing surfaces other than grass and when transporting the mower to and from the area to be mowed.
•Be aware of the mower discharge path and direct discharge away from others.
•Do Not operate the mower under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
•Use extreme care when loading or unloading the machine into a trailer or truck.
•Use care when approaching blind corners, shrubs, trees, or other objects that may obscure vision.
DANGER
Operating on wet grass or steep slopes can cause sliding and loss of control. Loss of control and/or loss of operator's footing could result in a fall with an arm or leg getting under the mower or engine deck which may result in serious injury, death or drowning.
•Mow across slopes, never up and down.
•Do Not mow slopes when grass is wet.
•Do Not mow near
•Do Not mow slopes greater than 20 degrees.
•Reduce speed and use extreme caution on slopes.
•Avoid sudden turns or rapid speed changes.
•See inside the back cover to determine the approximate slope angle of the area to be mowed.
•Remove or mark obstacles such as rocks, tree limbs, etc. from the mowing area. Tall grass can hide obstacles.
•Watch for ditches, holes, rocks, dips and rises that change the operating angle, as rough terrain could overturn the machine.
•Avoid sudden starts when mowing uphill because the mower may tip backwards.
•Be aware that operating on wet grass, across steep slopes or downhill may cause the mower to lose traction. Loss of traction to the drive wheels may result in sliding and a loss of braking and steering.
•Always avoid sudden starting or stopping on a slope. If tires lose traction, disengage the blades and proceed slowly off the slope.
•Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for wheel weights or counter weights to improve stability.
•Use extreme care with grass catchers or attachments. These can change the stability of the machine and cause loss of control.
Slope Operation
Use Extreme caution when mowing and/or turning on slopes as loss of traction and/or
Maintenance and Storage
•Disengage drives, lower implement, set parking brake, stop engine and remove key or disconnect spark plug wire. Wait for all movement to stop before adjusting, cleaning or repairing.
9
