MTD 520 Series manual

Safety • Assembl y • Operation • Tips & T echniques • Maintenance • T roubleshooting • P ar ts Lists • Warranty Warning : This un it is equi pped wi th an internal c ombu stion en gine and s hould not be u sed on or near any unim proved forest-c overed, brush- covered or grass -c overed land unles s the eng ine’ s exhaus t syste[...]

2 Finding and Recor ding Model Number T ab le of Contents BE FO RE AS SE MBLING Y OUR NEW E QUIP MENT , pleas e locate th e model pla te on the e quipmen t and copy th e inf ormati on to the sa mple model pla te p ro - vided to th e right. Y ou can locat e the model pla te by standin g at the ope rati ng position a nd looking do wn at the r ear o f[...]

3 1 Slope Gauge W ARNING Do not mo w on inclines with a slope in e xcess of 1 5 degre es (a rise of appro ximat ely 2- 1/ 2 fee t ev er y 1 0 feet). Ope rat e W AL K -BE HIN D mow ers across th e face o f slopes, ne ver up and dow n slopes. 3IGHTANDHOLDTHISLEVELWITHAVERTICALTREE ORACORNEROFABUILDING?[...]

4 2 Safe Operat ion Practices Children T ragic accidents can occur if operator is not aler t to presence of children. Children are often attracted to mow er and mowing activity . They do not understand the dangers . Nev er assume that children will remain where you last sa w them. 1. K eep children out of the mowing area and under watchful care of [...]

5 1 9. Shu t the en gine o ff a nd wait un til th e blad e com es to a com plete s top be fore rem oving t he gra ss cat cher or u nc log - ging t he c hute. The c ut ting b lade c ont inues t o rotate for a few s eco nds af ter the e ngin e is shu t off. Never pl ace any par t o f the b ody in the b lade are a unti l you are sure t he bla de has s[...]

6 3 Setup and Adjustment 1 . For shippi ng purpo ses, the c hute defle ctor on your mower is held in an u pright p ositi on by a retainer . Remove the retainer as fo llows: a. Push chu te deflec tor up towards eng ine. Hold ing deflec tor in thi s posit ion, remove the retain er and disc ard. See Fig ure 3- 1 . b. Lower the chu te deflec tor carefu[...]

7 CU TT I NG HEI GHT All whee ls must be placed in the s ame rela tive pos ition. F or rough or u nev en lawns , mov e the height a djust- ment le ver t o a higher position . This will st op scalping o f grass. MUL CH IN G B AFFL E Fo r proper ass embly , install bo ttom lip inside chute ope ning bef ore placing hoo ks ov er the hinge pin . 3 Setup[...]

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9 4 Operating Y our Lawn Mo wer W ARNING The operation of any lawn mo wer can result in foreign ob jects being throw n into the ey es, which can damage you r ey es sev erely . Alwa ys wear safety glasses while operating the mower , or while performing any ad justments or repairs on it. Be sure no one other than the operator is standing near the law[...]

10 5 Maintaining Y our Lawn Mo wer W ARNING Alwa ys stop engi ne, disconnect spark plug, and grou nd against eng ine before cleaning, lubr icating or doing an y kind of maintenance on y our machine. W e do not recomme nd the use o f pressu re wash ers or garden hose to cle an yo ur unit. The se ma y cause damage t o electric components , spindles, [...]

11 5 Maintaining Y our Lawn Mo wer W ARNING When remov ing the cutting blade for sharpenin g or replacement or when slidi ng the belt around it, protect yo ur hands with a pair of heavy glo ves or use a heavy rag to hold the blade. An unbalanced blade will ca use ex ce ssiv e vibration when ro tat- ing at hi gh spee ds. It may cau se damage to mo w[...]

12 For r epa irs bey ond the minor adjustm ents listed he re, contact an authorized se rv ic e deal er . 6 T r ouble Shooting Cause Pr oblem Remedy En gine fails t o star t 1 . Blad e co ntrol d isen gage d. 2. Spar k plug w ire di sco nnec ted. 3. Fuel tank e mpt y or st ale fu el. 4. Engin e not pri med ( if eq uip ped wi th prim er) . 5. Fault y[...]

13 7 W ARNING DO NOT remov e safet y (or any) labels from mower f or any reason. Off-Season Storage The followi ng steps shou ld be taken to prepare your lawn mower for storage. 1 . Clean and l ubric ate mower thorough ly as desc ribe d in the lubr icat ion instr uct ions. 2. We do not recomm end the us e of a pressure washer or garde n hose to cl [...]

14 Model Series 520[...]

15 8 P ar ts List[...]

The limi ted warranty s et fort h below is gi ven by MTD LLC with respec t to new merchan dise purc hased an d used in t he United St ates, its posse ssion s and territor ies. “ MTD” warrant s this pro duc t against d efects in m aterial and work man- ship for a per iod of t wo ( 2) years c ommen cing on t he date of orig inal purcha se and wil[...]