tive and may result in personal injury through contact with the rotating blade. The blade control handle must operate easily in both directions and automatically return to the disengaged position when released.
•Never operate the mower in wet grass. Al- ways be sure of your footing. A slip and fall can cause serious personal injury. If you feel you are losing your footing, release the blade control handle immediately and the blade will stop rotating within three seconds.
•Mow only in daylight or in good artificial light. Walk, never run.
•Stop the blade when crossing gravel drives, walks or roads.
•If the equipment should start to vibrate ab- normally, stop the en gine and check immediately for the cause. Vibration is gen- erally a warning of trouble.
•Shut the engine off and wait until the blade comes to a complete stop before removing the grass catcher or unclogging the chute. The cutting blade continues to rotate for a few seconds after the engine is shut off. Never place any part of the body in the blade area until you are sure the blade has stopped rotating.
•Never operate mower without proper trail shield, discharge cover, grass catcher, blade control handle or other safety protective de- vices in place and working. Never operate mower with damaged safety devices. Failure to do so, can result in personal injury.
•Muffler and engine become hot and can cause a burn. Do not touch.
•Only use parts and accessories made for this machine by the manufacturer. Failure to do so, can result in personal injury.
•If situations occur which are not covered in this manual, use care and good judgment. Contact your customer support department.
SLOPE OPERATION
Slopes are a major factor related to slip and fall accidents which can result in severe in- jury. Operation on slopes requires extra caution. If you feel uneasy on a slope, do not mow it. For your safety, use the slope gauge included as part of this manual to measure slopes before operating this unit on a sloped or hilly area. If the slope is greater than 15 degrees, do not mow it.
DO:
•Mow across the face of slopes; never up and down. Exercise extreme caution when changing direction on slopes. Watch for holes, ruts, bumps, rocks, or other hidden objects which can cause you to slip or trip. Tall grass can hide obstacles. Always be sure of your footing. A slip and fall can cause serious personal injury. If you feel you are losing your balance, release the blade control handle immediately, and the blade will stop rotating within 3 seconds.
DO NOT:
•Do not mow near
•Do not mow slopes greater than 15 degrees as shown on the slope gauge.
•Do not mow on wet grass. Unstable footing could cause slipping.
CHILDREN
•Tragic accidents can occur if the operator is not alert to the presence of children. Children are often attracted to the mower and the mowing activity. They do not understand the dangers. Never assume that children will re- main where you last saw them.
a)Keep children out of the mowing area and under the watchful care of a respon- sible adult other than the operator.
b)Be alert and turn mower off if a child en- ters the area.
c)Before and while moving backwards, look behind and down for small children.
d)Use extreme care when approaching blind corners, doorways, shrubs, trees, or other objects that may obscure your vi- sion of a child who may run into the mower.
e)Keep children away from hot or running engines. They can suffer burns from a hot muffler.
•Never allow children under 14 years old to operate a power mower. Children 14 years old and over should read and understand the operation instructions and safety rules in this manual and should be trained and su- pervised by a parent.
SERVICE SAFE HANDLING OF GASOLINE:
•To avoid personal injury or property damage use extreme care in handling gasoline. Gas- oline is extremely flammable and the vapors are explosive. Serious personal injury can occur when gasoline is spilled on yourself or
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