Mower Cutting Blades; Maintenance And Service; Cleaning Your Deck - Cub Cadet 53AH8ST3050 Operator's And Service Manual

j. After you have mastered operating the mower,
use the second foot pedal to lower the mowing
deck to the cutting position and pull on the
electric blade clutch switch to start the blades
rotating.
k. Practice mowing in straight passes. When you
feel confident, slowly practice mowing around
obstacles such as trees.
5. Parking the Mower:
a. Push off the electric blade clutch switch.
b. Use the upper foot pedal to raise the mowing
deck to the transport position.
c. Drive the mower to the cleanup or storage
area.
d. Move the throttle to slow.
e. Place the steering levers in the neutral posi-
tion.
f. Set the parking brake.
g. Turn off the ignition switch and take the key
from the switch.
h. Close the fuel shutoff valves.
E.Mower Cutting Blades
The blades normally "factory installed" on a mower
afford the best grass cutting performance on the majority
of grasses and mowing conditions; however, there will
be occasions whereby the grass type, stage of grass
growth, soil conditions, and weather conditions will
require different cutting blade types. Since the mower
decks are designed so that over-lap of the cutting blades
generally exceed 1.5", there is no need for orientation of
one cutting blade to an adjacent blade (I.E., the blades
do not need to be "timed" nor synchronized).
Hi-lift- These are generally the best cutting blades for
most grasses and mowing conditions. These blades will
provide extra "lift" for the thinner leaf grasses, will handle
lush grasses, and will provide maximum grass and
debris discharge. These blades are generally required
for material collection systems. More horsepower is
required for these blades when compared to others, and
they generally produce the highest noise levels.
Medium-lift- These blades require less horsepower
than the hi-lift, and they generally work well in wider leaf
grasses and some mulch applications.
Low-lift- These blades require less horsepower than hi-
lift and medium-lift blades, and they generally work best
with wide leaf grasses, sparse grass growth, and sandy
soil conditions. They generally produce the lowest noise
levels. Bahia blades are configured without offset, and
with a maximum amount of sharpened cutting edge.
Mulch- These blades are generally designed for use in
cutting decks equipped with mulch baffles. The shape of
the blade generally produces higher turbulence in order
that the grass can be repeatedly cut and re-cut into
smaller pieces. These blades generally require more
horsepower than other blades. Mulch blades work best
when the grasses are cut at the highest levels, minimal
lengths of grasses are removed, and grass conditions
are generally dry.
MAINTENANCE AND
SERVICE
Disconnect the spark plug wires or remove the
key from the ignition to prevent the engine from
accidentally starting before performing any main-
tenance on this mower.
A. Cleaning your Deck
Use the Deck Wash System to rinse grass clippings
from the deck's underside and prevent the buildup of
corrosive chemicals. Complete the following steps
after each mowing:
IMPORTANT: Make certain the machine's dis-
charge chute is directed away from people, children,
animals, and your house, garage, parked cars, etc.
a. Drive the machine to a level, clear spot on
your lawn, near enough to a water faucet
(spigot) for your garden hose to reach.
b. Make sure that the PTO (mower deck blade
engage) control is in the "OFF" position.
c. Move shift lever or speed control into the
"Neutral" position.
d. Set the parking brake, and turn the ignition
key to the "STOP" position to stop the engine.
e. Thread hose coupler (packaged with this
manual) onto the end of your garden hose.
See Figure 6. Attach the hose coupler to the
water port on your mower deck's surface. See
Figure 6. Turn the water on.
f. While sitting in the machine operator's posi-
tion, re-start the engine and place throttle
lever in the Fast (rabbit) position.
g. Move the PTO control to the "ON" position.
h. Remain in the machine operator's position,
and with the mower deck engaged for a mini-
mum of two minutes per wash out, start with
the trim (operator's left) side, and allow the
underside of the cutting deck to thoroughly
rinse.
i. Move the PTO control to the "OFF" position.
j. Turn the engine off.
k. Turn the water off, and detach the hose cou-
pler from the water port on your mower deck.
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WARNING: