Tips For Cutting Grass - Toro 70171 Operator's Manual

Tips for Cutting Grass

Even with the Recycler rider, you may encounter
conditions where it is not possible to incorporate all
of the grass clippings or leaves all of the time into the
grass. Follow these instructions for the best cutting
results and lawn appearance:
Always use FAST (full) throttle when mowing.
Maintain a sharp blade throughout the cutting
season. A sharp blade cuts cleanly and without
tearing or shredding the grass blades like a dull
blade. Tearing and shredding causes the grass to
turn brown at the edges which impairs growth
and increases susceptibility to diseases. About
every 30 days, remove the wire from the spark
plug and check the cutter blade for sharpness.
File down any nicks on blade to restore its sharp
edge.
Clean any residue from the underside of the rider
housing and kickers after each use. If residue is
allowed to build up in rider housing and on
kickers, cutting performance may be
unsatisfactory.
Very long or extremely wet grass can be cut, but
specific operating techniques must be used. Start
by setting height-of-cut in the highest position.
Using 1st gear and maximum throttle speed,
move into the grass and cut a swath that is only
half as wide as the mower housing. If side
discharging, direct grass clippings toward area
that was cut previously. Stop forward movement
occasionally to allow discharge area to clear
itself. Cutting too much grass may clog the
mower housing and discharge area. If mower
housing does clog, shut engine off, disengage
blade and remove the obstruction with a stick.
POTENTIAL HAZARD
Unexpected blade contact can occur
WHAT CAN HAPPEN
Personal injury can occur from contact
with blade
HOW TO AVOID THE HAZARD
Depress clutch and brake pedals, shift into
neutral and turn ignition key to "OFF"
position. Remove wire from spark plug to
prevent someone from accidentally starting
the machine.
When the rider is used to cut a lawn for the first
time, cut grass slightly longer than normal to
ensure that cutting height of mower housing will
not cause scalping, which could result from
severe undulations of the ground. In general,
however, the cutting height used in the past is
probably the best one to use. When cutting grass
over six inches tall, you may want to cut the
lawn twice to hide clippings down in the grass.
If the grass is ever allowed to grow slightly
longer than normal, or if it contains a high
degree of moisture, raise cutting height higher
than usual and cut the grass at this setting. Next,
cut the grass again using the lower, normal
setting. This method of cutting long grass results
in an even distribution of clippings and an
acceptable quality-of-cut.
In the heat of the summer, it is best to cut only
about 1/3 of the grass blade. Cutting below the
3rd setting is not recommended unless grass is
sparse or it is late fall when grass growth begins
to slow down.
If the cutting width of the rider is wider than the
mower previously used, raise height-of-cut
setting one notch to ensure undulations in turf
are not cut too short.
Operation
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