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BEFORE STARTING EN GINE
Read engine manual packed with your unit.
FILL ENGINE WITH OIL
Your lawn mower is shipped without oil in
the engine.
• Be sure mower is level and area around
oil fi ll is clean.
• Remove engine oil fi ller plug (oil fi ll cap/
dipstick on models so equipped).
• Slowly add oil. For type and grade of
oil to use, see "ENGINE" in the Mainte-
nance section of this manual.
• Fill to the top of slot in fi ller hole (to
"FULL" line on dipstick on models so
equipped). Do not overfi ll.
• Replace plug (oil fi ll cap/dipstick on
models so equipped) and tighten.
• Check oil level before each use. Add oil
as needed.
• To change oil, see "TO CHANGE EN-
GINE OIL" in the Maintenance section of
this manual.
FILL GASOLINE TANK
• Fill gasoline tank with fresh, clean, un-
leaded gaso line. DO NOT USE PRE-
MIUM GASOLINE. BE CARE FUL NOT
TO OVERFILL TANK.
WARNING: Experience indicates that
al co hol blended fuels (called gaso hol or
using ethanol or metha nol) can at tract
mois ture which leads to sepa ra tion and
for ma tion of acids during storage. Acidic gas
can damage the fuel system of an en gine
while in stor age. To avoid engine prob lems,
the fuel system should be emptied before
stor age of 30 days or longer. Drain the fuel
tank, start the engine and let it run until fuel
lines and car bu re tor are empty. Use fresh
fuel next season. See Stor age In struc tions
for ad di tion al in for ma tion. Never use en gine
or car bu re tor clean er prod ucts in fuel tank or
per ma nent dam age may occur.
TO START ENGINE
CAUTION: The mow er blade rotates
whenever the engine is running.
• Move engine speed control to FAST
position or to CHOKE/START position
on models equipped with choke fea ture.
• If your mower has a primer, to start a
cold engine, push primer the num ber of
times as instructed in the engine manual
packed with your mower. Use a fi rm
push. This step is not usually nec es sary
when start ing an engine which has
already run for a few minutes.
• Hold operator presence control bar
down against han dle.
• Pull starter handle quickly. Do not allow
starter rope to snap back.
• For engines equipped with choke, slowly
move engine speed control lever to
FAST position after engine starts.
• To STOP engine, release operator pres-
ence engine control bar.
NOTE: For engines with a primer, it may be
nec es sary to repeat priming steps in cooler
weather. In warmer weath er, overpriming
may cause fl ood ing and en gine will not start.
If you do fl ood engine, wait a few minutes
before attempting to start and DO NOT
repeat priming steps.
Operator presence
control bar
Recoil starter
handle (side
mount type)
MOWING TIPS
• For most cutting conditions and bet ter
bagging per form ance, the engine speed
should be set in the FAST po si tion.
• Under certain conditions, such as when
mowing very tall grass, raise the mower
height on the fi rst cut to reduce pushing
effort, to avoid over heat ing the engine, and
to avoid leaving clumps of grass clippings.
Make the second cut to the desired height.
• For extremely heavy cutting, reduce the
width of cut.
• For side discharge lawn mowers, cut in a
coun ter clock wise di rec tion, start ing at the
outside of the area to be cut, in order to
spread grass clip pings more evenly and
to put less load on the engine. To keep
clip pings off of walkways, fl ower beds, etc.,
make the fi rst cuts in a clock wise direction.
• When using a rear discharge lawn
mower in moist, heavy grass, clumps
of cut grass may not enter the grass
catcher. Reduce ground speed (push ing
speed) and/or run the lawn mower over
the area a second time.
• If a trail of grass clipping is left on the right
side of a rear discharge lawn mower, mow
in a clockwise direction with a small overlap
to collect the clippings on the next pass.
• Pores in cloth grass catchers can be-
come fi lled with dirt and dust with use
and the catcher will collect less grass.
To prevent this, regularly hose catcher
off with water and let dry before use.
18
Recoil
starter
handle
(center
mount
type)
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