Mower Maintenance
Blade Safety
•
Inspect the blades periodically for wear or damage.
•
Use care when checking the blades. Wrap the
blades or wear gloves, and use caution when
servicing the blades. Only replace or sharpen the
blades; never straighten or weld them.
•
On multi-bladed machines, take care as rotating
one blade can cause other blades to rotate.
•
Replace worn or damaged blades and bolts in sets
to preserve balance.
Servicing the Cutting
Blades
To ensure a superior quality of cut, keep the blades
sharp. For convenient sharpening and replacement,
keep extra blades on hand.
Before Inspecting or Servicing the
Blades
1.
Park the machine on a level surface, disengage
the blade-control switch (PTO), and engage the
parking brake.
2.
Shut off the engine, remove the key, and
disconnect the spark-plug wires from the spark
plugs.
Inspecting the Blades
Service Interval: Before each use or daily
1.
Inspect the cutting edges
2.
If the edges are not sharp or have nicks, remove
and sharpen the blade; refer to
Blades (page
48).
3.
Inspect the blades, especially in the curved area.
4.
If you notice any cracks, wear, or a slot forming
in this area, immediately install a new blade
(Figure
63).
(Figure
63).
Sharpening the
1. Cutting edge
2. Curved area
Checking for Bent Blades
Note:
The machine must be on a level surface for
the following procedure.
1.
Raise the mower deck to the highest
height-of-cut position.
2.
While wearing thickly padded gloves, or other
adequate hand protection, slowly rotate the
blade into a position that allows you to measure
the distance between the cutting edge and the
level surface the machine is on
1. Deck
2. Spindle housing
3.
Measure from the tip of the blade to the flat
surface
(Figure
46
Figure 63
3. Wear/slot forming
4. Crack
(Figure
Figure 64
3. Blade
65).
g006530
64).
g014972