Mowing Tips; Mulching Mowing Tips - Craftsman 917.388391 Owner's Manual

MOWINGTIPS
• Under certain conditione, such as very tall
grass, it may be necassary to raise the
height of cut to reduce pushing effort and to
keep from ovedoading the engine and
leaving dumps of grass clippings. It may
also be necessary to reduce ground speed
and/or run the lawn mower over the area a
second time.
• For extremely heavy cutting, reduce the
width of cut by overlapping previouslycut
path and mow slowly.
• For better grass begging and most cutting
conditions,the engine speed should be set
in the fast position.
• Pores in cloth grass catchers can become
filledwith dirt and dust with use and
catchers will collect less grass. To prevent
this, regularly hose catcher off with water
and let dry before using.
• Keep top of engine around starter clear
and clean of grass clippings and chaff.
This will help engine air flow and extend
engine life.
MULCHING MOWINGTIPS
IMPORTANT: For best perfom'Bnce, keep
mower housing free of buiR-upgrass and
trash. Clean UNDERSIDE OF MOWER
HOUSING after each use. See "Cleaning" in
MAINTENANCE section of this manual.
• The special mulching blade will recurthe
grass clippings many times and reduce
them in size so that as they fall onto the
lawn they w'_ldisperse into the grass and
not be noticed. Also, the mulched grass will
biedegrade quicldyto provide nutrients for
the lawn. Always mulch with your highest
engine (blade) speed as this will provide
the best recurringaction of the blades.
• Avo'KIcutting your lawn when it is wet. Wet
grass tends to form clumps and interferes
with the mulching action. The best time to
mow your lawn is the early afternoon. At
this time the grass has dried and the newly
cut area will not be exposed to the direct
sun.
• For best results, adjust the lawn mower
cutting height so that the lawn mower cuts
oft only the top one-third of the grass
blades. If the lawn is overgrown itwill be
necessary to raise the height of cut to
reduce pushing effort and to keep from
overloading the engine and leaving
clumps of mulched grass. For extremely
heavy mu_ing, reduce your width of cut,
mow slowly and raise the rear of the lawn
mower one wheel adjuster setting higher
than the front.
* Cedain typas of grass and grass conddJons
may require that an area be mulched a
Second time to completely hkle the
clippings. When doing a second cut, mow
across or paqoondicular to the first cut path.
• Change your cuttingpattem from week to
week. Mow north to south one week thon
change to east to weet the next week. This
wiU help prevent rnatting and graining of
the lawn.
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