Assembly; Attaching The Battery Cables; Shipping Brace Removal; Attaching The Steering Wheel - Craftsman 247.203721 Operator's Manual

IMPORTANT: Your t ractorisshippedwith motoroffin the engine.However, you
MUST check the oil level b efore operating.Refer t o the Service & Maintenance
sectionforinstructions on checking the oil level.
Attaching the Battery Cables
California Preposition 65
Batteryposts,terminals, andrelatedaccessories c ontain leadandlead
compounds,chemicalsknown to the Stateof Californiato causecancerand
reproductive h arm.Washhandsafter handling.
Whenattaching battery cables,alwaysconnect the POSITIVE (Red)wire to its
terminal first, followed bythe NEGATIVE (Black)wire.
Forshippingreasons, bothbatterycables on yourequipmenthavebeenleft
disconnected f rom the terminalsat thefactory.Toconnect t he batterycables,
proceed asfollows:
fie?E: T hepositivebatteryterminalismarkedPos. ( +).Thenegativebattery
terminalismarkedNeg. ( -).
1. Remove t he plasticcover, i f present, f rom the positivebatteryterminaland
attachthe redcableto the positivebatteryterminal(+) with the bolt and
hexnut.SeeFigure 1.
2. Remove t he plasticcover, i f present, f rom the negative batteryterminaland
attachthe blackcableto the negative batteryterminal(-) with the bolt and
hexnut.SeeFigure 1.
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Figure 1
3. Position the redrubberbootoverthe positive batteryterminalto help
protectit from corrosion.
NOTE: Ifthe batteryisput intoservice after the dateshownon top of battery,
charge the batteryasinstructed in the Service & Maintenance s ection of this
manual p riorto operatingthe tractor.
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Shipping BraceRemoval
Makesurethe riding mower's engineisoff, remove the ignitionkey,and
set the parking brake before removing the shipping brace.Referto the
jOperaton sect on for nstruct ons on howto set the park ng brake.
Locate the shippingbrace, i f present, a ndaccompanying warningtag found
on the rightsideof the mower,betweenthe discharge c hutedeflectorand
the cuttingdeck.See Figure 2.
Figure2
Place the decklift leverin the highest c utting position.Refer t o Settingthe
CuttingHeight i nthe Operation sectionof thismanual.
While pushing t hedischarge chute deflector towards themachine w ithyourleft
hand, r emove t heshipping b race w ithyourrighthand bygrasping i tbetween y our
thumbandindex f inger a ndrotating itclockwise.
Theshipping brace,usedfor packaging purposes o nly,must be removedand
discarded before operating your riding mower.
Themowing deckiscapableof throwing objects.Failureto operate the
riding mower without the dischargecoverin the properoperating position
lcou d resut nser ous persona njury and/or property damage.
AttachingThe SteeringWheel
Ifthe steeringwheelforyourtractordid notcomeattached, t he hardware for
attachingit hasbeenpacked within the steeringwheel,beneath the steeringwheel
cap.Carefully pryoffthe steeringwheelcapandremove the hardware.
1. With the wheels of the tractorpointingstraightforward,placethesteering
wheeloverthe steeringshaft.
2. Place the washer (with the cuppedside down)overthe steeringwheeland
secure with the hexbolt. See Figure 3.
3. Place the steeringwheelcapoverthe centerof the steeringwheel and
pushdownwarduntil it "clicks"intoplace.
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