9
in the side of the gearbox by rotating the dust
cup. Insert a small screwdriver into aligned
holes. This will k eep the shaft from tur ning while
loosening the trimmer head. Remove the trim-
mer head by turning clockwise. Remove the
screwdriver.Toremove the plasticshield,loos-
enand remove win gnut . P ivot shield to release
bracketfrom slot. See INSTALLATION OF THE
CUTTING HEAD and ATTACHING THE
PLASTIC SHIELD for illustrations. Be sure to
store all parts and instructions for f uture use.
Never use the trimmer head with the metal
blade installed.
ATTACHINGTHE METAL SHIELD
WARNING: The metal shield must
be properly installed on the tool anytime the
toolis us ed with a blade. The f orward tip of the
metal shield helps to reduce the occurrence
ofblade thrust whic h can cause serious injury
such as amputation to the operator or by-
standers. Failure to install the shield in the
position shown can result in serious injury to
theoperator. The length of the shield mus t be
alignedw ith the length of the shaft.
Shaft
Metal
Shield
Blade
1. Place the metal shield under the gearbox,
and alignthe s crew holes.
Shield
Gearbox
2. Insertand thread the 4 mounting s crews
throughthe holes of the gearbox and the
metalshield. Tightenevenly and secur e-
ly with the hex wrench provided.
INSTALLATIONOF THE METAL
BLADE
WARNING: Wear protec tive gloves
when handling or performing maintenance on
theblade to avo id injury. The blade is sharp and
can cut you even when it is not moving.
WARNING: Do not use any blades , or
fastening hardware other than the washers and
nuts shown in the following illustrations. T hese
parts must be provided by Poulan/WEED
EATERand installed as shown below. Failure to
use proper parts can cause the blade to fly off
and seriously hurt you or others.
NOTE: Thedust c up and retaining washer are
locatedon the gearbox shaft and n ot in the parts
bag. All other fas teners mentioned in the follow-
ing assembly steps are in the parts bag.
1. Remove the retaining washer from the
threadedshaft of the gearbox. Leavethe
dust cup on the shaft.
2. Installthe blade and the retaining washer
over the threaded shaft.
3. Makesure the raised part of the retaining
washer is facing the gearbox and the
raisedar ea fits into the hole in the center
of the blade.
4. Slide the blade and retaining washer onto
the shaft of the gearbox.
5. Placethe cupped was her onto the shaft.
Makesure the cupped side of the w asher
is toward the blade.
6. Installthe blade nut by threading onto the
shaftcounterclock wise (looking f rom bot-
tomof unit) .
Shield
Blade
Retaining
Washer
Aligned Holes
Cupped
Washer
Nut
Threaded Shaft
Gearbox
DustCup
NOTE: Make sure all parts are in place as il-
lustrated, and the blade is sandwiched bet ween
the dust cup and the retaining washer. There
should be no space between the blade and the
dust cup or the retaining washer.
7. Alignhole in dust cup with hole in side of
gearbox by rotating theblade.
8. Insert a small screwdriver into aligned
holes. This w ill keep the shaft from turn-
ingw hile tightening the blade nut.
9. TIghtenblade nut firmly wit ha w rench while
holding screwdriver in position.
10. Remove the scr ewdriver.
11. Turn blade by hand. If the blade binds
againstthe shield, or appears to be uneven,
theblade is not c entered, and you must re-
install. NOTE: To remove blade, insert
screwdriver into aligned holes . Unthread
thenut and r emove parts. Besure to stor e
parts and instructions for future use.