Troy-Bilt 400 Series - Manuel (Page 4)

4
Slope Operation
Slopes are a ma jor fac tor re lated to slip and fall ac ci dents
which can re sult in se vere in jury. Op er a tion on slopes re quires
ex tra cau tion. If you feel un easy on a slope, do not mow it. For
your safety, use the slope gauge in cluded as part of this man -
ual to mea sure slopes be fore op er at ing this unit on a sloped or
hilly area. If the slope is greater than 15 de grees, do not mow
it.
Do:
• Mow across the face of slopes; never up and down. Ex er cise
ex treme cau tion when chang ing di rec tion on slopes.
• Watch for holes, ruts, rocks, hid den ob jects, or bumps which
can cause you to slip or trip. Tall grass can hide ob sta cles.
• Al ways be sure of your foot ing. A slip and fall can cause se ri -
ous per
sonal in jury. If you feel you are los ing your bal ance,
re lease the blade con trol han dle im me di ately, and the blade will
stop ro tat ing within 3 sec onds.
Do Not:
• Do not mow near drop-offs, ditches or em bank ments, you could
lose your foot ing or bal ance.
• Do not mow slopes greater than 15 de grees as shown on the
slope gauge.
• Do not mow on wet grass. Un sta ble foot ing could cause slip -
ping.
Chil dren
Tragic ac ci dents can oc cur if the op er a tor is not alert to the
pres ence of chil dren. Chil dren are of ten at tracted to the mower
and the mow ing ac tiv ity. They do not un der stand the dan gers.
Never as
sume that chil dren will re main where you last saw
them.
• Keep chil dren out of the mow ing area and un der the watch ful
care of a re spon si ble adult other than the op er a tor.
• Be alert and turn mower off if a child en ters the area.
• Be fore and while mov ing back wards, look be hind and down for
small chil dren.
• Use ex treme care when ap proach ing blind cor ners, door ways,
shrubs, trees, or other ob jects that may ob scure your vi sion of
a child who may run into the mower.
• Keep chil dren away from hot or run ning en gines. They can suf -
fer burns from a hot muf fler.
• Never al low chil dren un der 14 years old to op er ate a power
mower. Chil dren 14 years old and over should read and un der -
stand the op er a tion in struc tions and safety rules in this man ual
and should be trained and su per vised by a par ent.
Ser vice
Safe Han dling Of Gas o line:
• To avoid per sonal in jury or prop erty dam age use ex treme care
in han dling gas o line. Gas o line is ex tremely flam ma ble and the
va pors are ex plo sive. Se ri ous per sonal in jury can oc cur when
gas o line is spilled on your self or your clothes which can ig nite.
• Wash your skin and change clothes im me di ately.
• Use only an ap proved gas o line con tainer.
• Never fill con tain ers in side a ve hi cle or on a truck or trailer bed
with a plas tic liner. Al ways place con tain ers on the ground away
from your ve hi cle be fore fill ing.
• Re move gas-pow ered equip ment from the truck or trailer and
re fuel it on the ground. If this is not pos si ble, then re fuel such
equip
ment on a trailer with a por ta ble con tainer, rather than
from a gas o line dis penser noz zle.
• Keep the noz zle in con tact with the rim of the fuel tank or con -
tainer open ing at all times un til fuel ing is com plete. Do not use
a noz zle lock-open de vice.
• Ex tin guish all cig a rettes, ci gars, pipes and other sources of ig ni -
tion.
• Never fuel ma chine in doors be cause flam ma ble va pors will ac -
cu mu late in the area.
• Never re move gas cap or add fuel while the en gine is hot or run -
ning. Al low en gine to cool at least two min utes be fore re fu el ing.
• Never over fill fuel tank. Fill tank to no more than ½ inch be low
bot tom of filler neck to pro vide for fuel ex pan sion.
• Re place gas o line cap and tighten se curely.
• If gas o line is spilled, wipe it off the en gine and equip ment.
Move unit to an other area. Wait 5 min utes be fore start ing the
en gine.
• Never store the ma chine or fuel con tainer near an open flame,
spark or pi lot light as on a wa ter heater, space heater, fur nace
,clothes dryer or other gas ap pli ances.
• To re duce fire haz ard, keep mower free of grass, leaves, or
other de bris build-up. Clean up oil or fuel spill age and re move
any fuel soaked de bris.
• Al low a mower to cool at least 5 min utes be fore stor ing.
Gen eral Ser vice:
• Never run an en gine in doors or in a poorly ven ti lated area. En -
gine ex
haust con tains car bon mon ox ide, an odor less and
deadly gas.
• Be fore clean ing, re pair ing, or in spect ing, make cer tain the
blade and all mov ing parts have stopped. Dis con nect the spark
plug wire and ground against the en gine to pre vent un in tended
start ing.
• Check the blade and en gine mount ing bolts at fre quent in ter -
vals for proper tight
ness. Also, vi su ally in spect blade for
dam age (e.g., bent, cracked, worn) Re place blade with the
orig i nal equip ment man u fac ture’s (O.E.M.) blade only, listed in
this man ual. “Use of parts which do not meet the orig i nal equip -
ment spec i fi ca tions may lead to im proper per for mance and
com pro mise safety!”
• Mower blades are sharp and can cut. Wrap the blade or wear
gloves, and use ex tra cau tion when ser vic ing them.
• Keep all nuts, bolts, and screws tight to be sure the equip ment
is in safe work ing con di tion.
• Never tam per with safety de vices. Check their proper op er a tion
reg u larly.
• Af ter strik ing a for eign ob ject, stop the en gine, dis con nect the
spark plug wire and ground against the en gine. Thor oughly in -
spect the mower for any dam
age. Re pair the dam age be fore
start ing and op er at ing the mower.
• Never at tempt to make a wheel or cut ting height ad just ment
while the en gine is run ning.
• Grass catcher com po nents, dis charge cover, and trail shield are
sub ject to wear and dam age which could ex pose mov ing parts
or al low ob jects to be thrown. For safety pro tec tion, fre quently
check com po nents and re place im me di ately with orig i nal equip -
ment man u fac turer’s (O.E.M.) parts only, listed in this man ual.
“Use of parts which do not meet the orig i nal equip ment spec i fi -
ca
tions may lead to im proper per for mance and com pro mise
safety!
• Do not change the en gine gov er nor set ting or overspeed the
en gine. The gov er nor con trols the max i mum safe op er at ing
speed of the en gine.
• Main tain or re place safety la bels, as nec es sary.
• Ob serve proper dis posal laws and reg u la tions. Im proper dis -
posal of flu ids and ma te ri als can harm the en vi ron ment.
Your Re spon si bil ity
• Re strict the use of this power ma chine to per sons who read,
un
der stand and fol low the warn ings and in struc tions in this
man ual and on the ma chine.
SI-102
10.6.04