White Outdoor LT-542K, LT-942K, LT-946K manual

PRINTED IN U .S.A. P . O . BO X 1386, 97 KENT A V ENUE, KITCHENE R, ON N2G 4J1 772C0801 (12/05) Oper ator’ s Man ual IMPOR T ANT : READ SAFETY R ULES AND INSTR UCTIONS CAREFULL Y Au t o m a t i c L a w n T ractor Models: L T -542K L T -942K L T -946K[...]

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS FINDING MODEL NUMBER This Operator’s Manual is an important part of yo ur new lawn tractor. It will help you assemble, prepare and maintain the unit for best performance. Please read and underst and what it says. Before you start as sembling your new equipment , please lo cate the model p late on the equipment and copy the inf[...]

3 SECTION 1: IMPORTANT SAFE OPERATION PRACTICES WARNING: This symbol points out im portant safe ty instru ctions which, if not f ollowed, could enda nger the personal safety and/or property of yourself and others. Read and follow all instruct ions in this manual before attemptin g to operate this machine. Failure t o comply with these instructio ns[...]

4 25. Disengage all attachment clu tches, depress the brake pedal co mpletely and shift into neutral before attempting to star t engine. 26. Your machine is designed to cut normal residential grass of a height no more than 10 ”. Do not attempt to mow through unusually tall, dry grass (e.g., pasture) or piles of dry leaves. Dry grass or leaves may[...]

5 f. To avoid back-over ac cidents, always disengage the cutting blad e(s) before shifting i nto reverse. The “Reverse Caution Mode” should not be used when children or others are ar ound. g. Keep children away from hot or runn ing engines. They can suffer bur ns from a hot muffler. h. Remove key when machine is unattended to prevent unau thori[...]

6 9. After striking a foreign object , stop the engine, disconnect the spark plug wire(s) and gro und against the engine. Tho roughly inspect the machine for any damage. Repair the damage before starti ng and operating. 10. Nev er attempt to make ad justments o r repairs to the machine while the engin e is running. 11. Grass catcher components and [...]

7 SECTION 2: SLOPE GAUGE Use this page as a guide to dete rmine slopes where you may not operate saf ely. Do not operate your lawn tractor on such slo pes. 15° SIGHT AND HOLD THIS LEVEL WITH A VERTICAL TREE A POWER POLE A CORNER OF A BUILDING OR A FENCE 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 DANGER Do not[...]

8 SECTION 3: TRACTOR SET-UP NOTE: This owner’s manual covers various models of lawn tractors. The units illu strated may vary slightly from your unit. Follow only those instructions which pertain to your model lawn tractor . Attaching the Battery Cables NOTE: The positive ba ttery termin al is marked Pos. (+). The negative batt ery terminal is ma[...]

9 WARNING: T he mowing deck is capa ble of throwing objects. Failur e to operate the riding mower without the discha rge cover in the proper operating position could result in serious persona l injury and/or propert y damage. Attaching the Steering Wheel WARNING: Do NOT operate the tractor without first attaching bot h the steering wheel AND the se[...]

10 Figure 5 SECTION 4: KNOW YOUR LAWN TRACTOR Thro tt l e C on t rol L eve r The throttle control lever is located on the right side of the tractor’s dash pane l. This lever controls the speed of the engine and, on some models, when pushed all the way forward, the ch oke control also. When set in a given position, the thrott le will maintain a un[...]

11 Figure 7 NOTE: Any referenc e in this manual to the RIGHT or LEFT side of the tractor is observed from operator’s positi on. NOTE: Hood styles var y by model. A Systems Indicator M onitor/Hour Meter H Cruise Control Button B PTO (Blade Engage) Leve r † I Ignition Sw itch Module PTO (Blade Engage) Knob † J Br ake Pedal C Choke Knob K Drive [...]

12 Ignition Switch Module WARNING: Nev e r leav e a runn ing machine unattended. Alw ays disengage PT O , mov e shift le ver into neutral position, set parking brak e, stop engine and remov e k ey to pre vent unintended s tar tin g. To start the engine, insert the key into the igniti on switch and turn clockwise to the START position. Release the k[...]

13 for the pr oper battery char ging procedure or have the chargin g system chec ked by an authori zed dealer. On units so equipped, the ammeter (if so equipped) measures the elect rical output of the engine ’s charging system. Under normal operat ing conditions, with the engine at full throt tle, the ammeter’s ne edle should measure a positi v[...]

14 Shift Lever The shift lever is located on t he left side of the fender and has three positio ns, FORWARD, NEUTRAL and REVERSE. The brake pedal must be depressed and the tractor must not be in mo tion when the moving shift lever. See Figu re 10. IMPORT ANT : Never force the shift lever. Doing so may result in serious damage to the tr actor’s tr[...]

15 3. Depress the REVERSE PUSH B UTTON (Orange, Triangular Butt on) at the top, right corner of the key switch module. The red indica tor light at the top, left corner of the key switch module will be ON while activated. Se e Figure 11. 4. Once ac tivated (indicator light ON ), the tr actor can be driven in reverse with the cutt ing blades (PTO) en[...]

16 Stopping the Engine WARNING: If y ou strike a f oreign object, stop the engine , disconnect the spark plug wire(s) and g round against the engine. Thoroughly inspect th e machine f or any damage . Repair the damage bef ore restar ting and opera ting • If the b lades are engage d, place the PTO (Blade Engage) knob (or lever) in the dise ngaged [...]

17 Models with Manual PTO • Grasp the PTO (Blade Engage) lever and pivot it all the way forward into the engaged (ON) position. Models with Electric PTO • Pull the PT O (Blade Engage) knob outw ard into the engaged (ON) posit ion. See Figure 12. Figure 12 • Keep the throttle lever in the FAST (rabbit) position for the most effic ient use of t[...]

18 SECTION 6: MAKING ADJUSTMENTS WARNING: Ne ver attempt to mak e any adjustments while the engine is running, e xcept where specified in th e operator’ s manual . Leveling the Deck NOTE: Check the tractor ’s tire pressure before performing any de ck leveling adjustments. Refer to Tires section for information regardin g tire pressure. Front To[...]

19 If the tractor does no t come to a complet e stop when the brake ped al is completely depr essed, or if the tractor’s rear wheels can roll with the park ing brake applied, the brak e is in need of adjustment. The brake disc can be found on the right side of the transmission in the rear of the tract or. Ad just if necessary as follows: • Look[...]

20 SECTION 7: MAINTAINING YOUR LAWN TRACTOR WARNING: Before perfor ming any maintenance or repair s, disengage PTO, move shift leve r into neutr al position, s et parking brake, st op engine and remove key to prevent unint ended start ing. Engine Refer to the s eparate engine manua l for engine maintenance ins tructions. Check engine oil level befo[...]

21 Dec k W ash System™ (Optional) A he x plug can be f ound on your tr actor’ s deck surf ace. This plug can be replaced with a w ater por t to be used as par t of a separately-a vailab le deck w a sh system. Use the Deck Wash System to rinse gr ass clippings from the deck’s un derside and prev ent build-u p of corrosive chem icals. Refer to [...]

22 • Always keep the battery cables and terminals clean and free of corrosive build-up. • After cleaning the batt ery and terminals, apply a light coat of petroleum jelly or grease to both terminals. • Always keep the rubber boot posit ioned over the positive term inal to prev ent shorting. IMPORT ANT : If removing the batt ery for any reason[...]

23 IMPORT ANT : If the cutting edge of the blade has already been sharpene d to within 5/8" of the wind wing radius, or if any metal separatio n is present, replace the blades with new ones. See Figure 20. Figure 20 It is important that each cutting blade edge be groun d equally to maintain pr oper blade balance. A poorly balanced blade w ill [...]

24 Changing the T ransmission Drive Belts NOTE: Several components must be removed and spe cial tools (i.e. air/imp act wrench) in order to change the tractor’s drive belts. See an authorized dealer to have your drive belts repl aced. Figure 21 ,EFT(AND 3PINDLE0ULLEY )DLER0ULLEYS 2IGHT(AND 3PINDLE0ULLEY %NGINE0ULLEY v$E[...]

25 Figure 22 Figure 23 SECTION 9: OFF-SEASON STORAGE Clean and lubricate the tr actor as instructed in MAINTAINING YOUR LAWN TRACTOR of this manu al before storing for an extended pe riod. WARNING: Drain fuel on ly into an approved contai ner outdoors, away from a n open flame. Allow e ngine to cool. Extinguish cigarettes, cigar s, pipes, and other[...]

26 SECTION 11: TROUBLESHOOTING T rouble P ossible Cause(s) Corrective Action Engine fails to start PT O engaged. P arking brak e not e ngaged. Spark pl ug wire(s) disconnected. Throttle control le v er not in correct star ting positio n. Chok e not activ ated Fuel tank empty , or stale fuel. Bloc ked fu el line. F au lty spark pl ug. Engine flooded[...]

2 7 SECTION 12 : MANUFACTURER’S LIMITED WARRANTY The limited warranty set forth below is given by MTD LLC with resp ect to new merchandise purchased and used in the United State s and/or its territories and posse ssions, and by MTD Products Limited with respect to new merchandise pur chased and used in Canada and/or it s territories and possessio[...]