OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS

HOLDING THE TRIMMER

WARNING: Always wear eye, hearing, foot and body protection to reduce the risk of injury when operating this unit.

Before operating the unit, stand in the operating position (Fig. 18). Check for the following:

• The operator is wearing eye protection and proper clothing

• With a straight right arm, the operator’s right hand is holding the shaft grip

• The operator’s left arm is slightly-bent, the left hand holding the handle

The unit is at waist level

 

The cutting attachment is

 

 

parallel to the ground and

Fig. 18

 

easily contacts the grass

 

 

without the need to bend over

 

Once you are in the operating position, hook the shoulder strap to the unit.

ADJUSTING TRIMMING LINE LENGTH

The Bump Head™ cutting attachment allows you to release trimming line without stopping the engine. To release more line, lightly tap the cutting attachment on the ground (Fig. 19) while operating the trimmer at high speed.

Fig. 19

NOTE: Always keep the trimming line fully extended. Line release becomes more difficult as the cutting line becomes shorter.

Each time the head is bumped, about 25.4 mm (1 inch) of trimming line is released. A blade in the cutting attachment shield will cut the line to the proper length if excess line is released.

CAUTION: Do not remove or alter the line cutting blade assembly. Excessive line length will make the clutch overheat. This may lead to serious personal injury or damage to the unit.

For best results, tap the Bump Head™ on bare ground or hard soil. If line release is attempted in tall grass, the engine may stall. Always keep the trimming line fully extended. Line release becomes more difficult as the cutting line becomes shorter.

NOTE: Do not rest the Bump Head™ on the ground while the unit is running.

Some line breakage will occur from:

Entanglement with foreign matter

Normal line fatigue

Attempting to cut thick, stalky weeds

Forcing the line into objects such as walls or fence posts

TIPS FOR BEST TRIMMING RESULTS

For best trimming results, operate unit at full throttle.

Keep the cutting attachment parallel to the ground.

Do not force the cutting attachment. Allow the tip of the line to do the cutting, especially along walls. Cutting with more than the tip will reduce cutting efficiency and may overload the engine.

Cut grass over 203mm (8 inches) by working from top to bottom in small increments to avoid premature line wear or engine drag.

Cut from left to right whenever possible. Cutting to the right improves the unit's cutting efficiency. Clippings are thrown away from the operator.

Slowly move the trimmer into and out of the cutting area at the desired height. Move either in a forward-backward or side-to-side motion. Cutting shorter lengths produces the best results.

Trim only when grass and weeds are dry.

The life of your cutting line is dependent upon:

Proper adherence of trimming techniques (explained above)

What vegetation is cut

Where vegetation is cut

For example, the line will wear faster when trimming against a foundation wall as opposed to trimming around a tree.

DECORATIVE TRIMMING

Decorative trimming is accomplished by removing all vegetation around trees, posts, fences and more.

Rotate the whole unit so that the cutting attachment is at a 30° angle to the ground (Fig. 20).

Fig. 20

USING THE CUTTING BLADE

WARNING: Always wear eye, hearing, foot, body protection and the shoulder strap to reduce the risk of injury when operating this unit.

WARNING: Do not use the cutting blade for edging or as an edger. Severe personal injury to yourself or others can result.

Before operating the unit with the cutting blade, stand in the operating position (Fig. 21). Refer to Holding the Trimmer.

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