Mowing Tips; Mulching Mowing Tips - Craftsman 944.360440 Owner's Manual

MOWING TIPS
• Under certain conditions, such as very
tall grass, it may be necessary to raise
the height of cut to reduce pushing
effort and to keep from ovedoading the
engine and leaving clumps 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 previously
cut path and mow slowly.
• For better grass bagging and most
cutting conditions, the engine speed
should be set in the fast position.
• Pores in cloth grass catchers can
become tilled with 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 MOWING TIPS
IMPORTANT: For bsst performance, keep
mower housing free of built-up grass and
trash. See =Cleaning" in Maintenance section
of this manual.
• The special mulching blade will recut the
grass clippings many times and reduce
them in size so that as they fail onto the
lawn they will disperse into the grass and
not be noticed. Abo, the muk:t._ grass
will biodegrade quicidyto provide nutrients
for the lawn. Always mulch with your
highest engine (blade) speed as this will
provide the best recuttingaction of the
blades.
• Avoid cuttingyour 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 aftemoon. At
this lime the grass hasd_ 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
off only the top one-third of the grsss
blades. If thelawn is overgrown it Willbe
necessan] to ralae the height of cut to
reduce pushing effort and to keep from
overloading the engine and leaving
clumps of mulched grass. For extremely
heaW mulching, reduce your width of cut
by overlapping previouslycut"path and
mow slowly.
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• Certaintypes of grassand grasscondi-
tionsmay requirethatan area be mulched
a secondlima to completely hidethe
clippings.When doinga sscend cut, mow
acrossorperpendicular t o the firatcut path.
• Change yourcutting pattemfromweekto
week. Mow northto southone wssk then
changeto eastto westthe nextweek. This
will help preventmattingand grairu'ng o f
the lawn.
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