MTD 540 Series manual

IMPOR T ANT : Rea d saf ety rule s and in structions caref ully bef or e oper ating e quipment . MTD PR ODUCTS INC. P .O . BO X 36 8022 CLEVELAND, OHIO 44136-9722 21” Rear & Side Disc har ge Mulc hing Mo wer Model Se r ies 540 PRINTED IN U.S .A. Warning: This unit is equipped with an internal combustion engine and should not be used on or nea[...]

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Cont ent P age Important Safe O peration Practi ces .... ............. ................... ............. .................. 3 Slope G auge ............. .................... ............. ................... ............. ................... ..... 6 Assembl ing Yo ur Lawn Mower ............ ............. ................... ....[...]

3 SECTION 1: IMPORTANT SAFE OPERATION PRACTICES This symb ol poin ts out impor tant saf ety instruc tions whic h, if not follo wed, could end anger the person al safety and /or proper ty of your self and oth ers. Read and follow al l instru ctions in this man ual before attempt ing to operat e your lawn mower. Fai lure to comply with these in stru [...]

4 • Mow only in daylight or good artifici al light. • Stop the blade when crossing gravel drives, walk s or roads. • If the equipment should start to vibrate abnormally, stop the engine and check im mediately for the cause. Vibration is generally a warning of trouble. • Shut the engine off and wait until the blade comes to a complete stop b[...]

5 • Never attempt to make a wheel or cutting height adjustment while the engine is running. • Gras s catcher components are subject to wear, damage and deterioration, which could expose moving parts or allow objec ts to be thrown. For safety protection, frequently check components and replace with manufacturer’s recommended parts, when necess[...]

6 SECTION 2: SLOPE GAUGE Use this pag e as a guide to de termine s lopes where yo u may not oper ate the la wn mower safe ly. 15° SIGHT AND H OLD THIS LEVEL WIT H A VERTICAL TR EE A POWE R POLE A CORNER OF A BU ILDING OR A FEN CE POST F O L D O N D O T T E D L I N E , R E P R E S E N T I N G A 1 5 ° S L O P E USE THI S PA GE A S A G UIDE TO D ETE[...]

7 SECTION 3: ASSEMBLING YOUR LAWN MOWER T o R e m o v e U n i t F r o m C a r t o n • Remove stap les, break glu e on top fla ps, or cut tap e at carton end and peel along t op flap to op en carton . • Remove lo ose parts inc luded w ith your unit ( i.e., operator ’ s manual, etc.) . • Cut along c orners and la y carton do wn flat. Remov e [...]

8 • The ro pe guide is attached to the righ t side o f upper handle. Loo sen the wing nu t which s ecures the rope guid e. See Figu re 4. • With spark plug wire disco nnecte d and grounded, hold the blad e control handle ag ainst the upp er handle, and pull the star ter rope out of the en gine. Release b lade contro l handl e. Slip the r ope in[...]

9 Conve rting T o Side Discharge If your unit is equip ped with a side di scharg e chute, yo u can co nvert to a side di scharge mo wer as follo ws: • Lift the r ear discha rge door a nd instal l the mulch ing baffle . See Figure 6. • On the side of th e mower, lift the mulching plu g. See Figu re 8. • Slide th e two hooks of the side dischar[...]

10 site. Once the bag is full, it has t o be removed fro m the mower and em ptied befor e any furthe r mowing. Mulching P lug Both the mulc hing baffl e and the mul ching plu g are used only for mulching purposes . Instea d of collec ting the gras s clip pings in a g rass catch er, so me mow er models ha ve the option of recircul ating the cl ippin[...]

11 • Blade speed s hould b e adjus ted to t he condi tion of the lawn. • For a healthy lawn, never cut more than one- third of th e total length o f the grass at a ny one cutting. Lawn should be cut in the fall as long as ther e is gro wth. • This mower is desig ned to be ope rated at full throttle to give you the be st cut and do the most ef[...]

12 Handle Height Your mower is shipp ed with the hand le in the hi gher height pos ition.To lower the hand le height for your conveni ence, p roceed as f ollows. Fig ure 11 • Remo ve th e star ter r ope f rom t he ro pe gu ide. • Remove the upper handl e by removin g the hand knobs and carriage bol ts. Lay the up per handle out of the way, bein[...]

13 Lubrication (Refer to Lu brication Cha rt in Figure 14.) WARNING: Always stop engine and disconnect spark plug wi re before cleaning, lubricating or doing any kind of work on lawn mower. Figure 14: Lubrication Chart Blade Con trol • Lubric ate the pivo t points on the bl ade co ntrol handle a nd th e brak e cable at l east on ce a seaso n with[...]

14 • Align th e blade bell support over the blade with the tabs in the hol es of the blad e and inser t the hex bolt. Tighten the hex bolt to the torque listed i n the “ Blade Mount ing To rque ” secti on below . Blade Moun ting Torqu e Center Bol t: 450 in. lbs. min., 600 i n. lbs. max. IMPORT ANT: To ensure sa fe operati on, all nuts and bo[...]

15 SECTION 10: SHROUD CHART Hardwa re: 710-1256 Shr oud Color 751B2814 39 Dark Red 751B2814 40 Black 751B2814 43 Bright Re d Hardw are: 710-1 256 Shr oud Color 731-1395A R ed 731-1396A Bl ack 731-1397A G rey Hardwa re: 710-1256 Shr oud Color 731-1402 A Yellow 731-1694 Blac k 731-1695 Silv er 731-1934 A Charcoal Hardw are: 710-1274 Shr oud Color 731[...]

16 SECTION 11: PARTS LIST FOR MODELS 540 THROUGH 549 1 2 11 3 5 25 8 10 7 13 6 14 20 23 66 53 58 88 89 90 30 31 73 76 36 32 34 33 70 59 71 44 80 50 55 56 39 82 39 40 85 83 84 63 64 72 71 60 44 43 42 41 93 16 17 26 81 87 94 86 87 92 4 12 4 47 51 54 61 62 67 49 18 15 19 95 96 9 21 5 20 52 57 57 52 6 99 98 68 24 86 97[...]

17 † If equ ipped Ref. No. Part No. Description 1 747-0824 C ontrol Handle Ass embly 647- 0004 Del uxe Co ntro l Hand le Ass emb ly 2 710-1205 R ope Guide 3 720-0279 H andle Kno b 4 710-1174 Curv ed Hd. Bolt 5/16-18 x 2 ” 5 712-0324 H ex L-Nut 1/ 4-20 Thd. 6 720-0314 H and Knob 7 71 0-0 605 Ov al C -Sunk Scr ew † 8 736-0501 Spri ng Washer †[...]

18 89 736-033 1 Bell Washer .3 9 x 1.13 x .062 90 712-0 798 Hex Nu t 3/ 8-16 92 732-0809 Torsion Spring 93 738-0 102 Fro nt Ax le Bo lt 94 782-700 6 Hinged Mounting Bracket 95 710-0 896 Hex Scr ew 1/ 4-14 x .625 96 782-905 0 Mounting Bracket 97 751B224511 Flywheel Gua rd (B&S) † 98 710-1 268 Hex Sc rew 99 751B224 437 Mu ffler Guard † Ref . [...]

19 Your Notes Date Comments[...]

MANUF A CTUR ER ’ S LIMITED W ARRANTY FOR: The l imit ed warr anty se t for th below is given by MTD PRODUCTS INC ( “ MTD ” ) with respe ct to ne w mercha ndise purchase d and us ed in the United States , its pos sessio ns and ter r itories . MTD war rants this produc t against def ects in mate rial and workman ship f or a period of two (2) y[...]