Cub Cadet RZT 50 manual

RZT 50 O PERA T OR’S M ANUAL IMPOR T ANT : READ SAFETY RU LES AND INSTR UCTIONS CAREFULL Y CUB CADET LLC P .O . BO X 361131 CLEVELAND , OHIO 4 4136-0019 [ www .cubcadet.com ] PRINTED IN U .S.A. Warning: This unit is equipped with an inte rnal combustion engine and should no t be used on or near any unimproved forest- covered, brush-covered or gra[...]

2 TRACTOR PREPARATION Remove the upp er crating ma terial from the shipping pallet, and cut a ny bands or tie straps securing t he trac- tor to the p allet. Use the lift handle t o raise the deck to its highest po si- tion; engage t he transmission bypass rods (Ref er to SECTION 1, CONTROLS AND FEATU RES); and care- fully roll the tra ctor off the [...]

3 POSITION DRIVE CONTROL LEVERS The drive control levers are unfaste ned from their re- spective pivot br ackets and lowered for shipping pur- poses. The control leve rs must be repositioned and secured to the piv ot bracket to operat e the tractor. Re- position the cont rol levers as follows: • Remove the nut knob, be ll washer, and car riage bo[...]

4 WARNING • The engine exhaust, some of its constit uents, and certain vehicle compone nts contain or emit chemicals known to the State of Ca lifornia to cause cance r, birth defects or other reproductive harm. • This unit is equipped wit h an internal co mbustion engine and sh ould not be used on or near any unimprove d forest-covered, brush-c[...]

5 13. Mow only in daylight or g ood artificial light. 14. Do not operate the m achine while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 15. Watch for traffic when operating nea r or crossing roadways. 16. Use extra care when loading or unloading the machine into a traile r or truck. This unit should n ot be driven up or do wn a ramp onto a trailer or [...]

6 5. Never allow children under 14 years old to operate the machin e. Children 14 years and over should only operate the m achine under close parental supervision and prope r instruction. 6. Use extra care when approaching blind corn ers, shrubs, tr ees or ot her obje cts that m ay obscure your vision of a child or other hazard. 7. Remove the key w[...]

7 KEEP HANDS AND FEE T A W A Y FROM ROTA TING PAR TS . REMOVE OBJECTS THAT CAN BE THRO WN BY THE BLADE IN ANY DIRECTI ON. WEAR S AFETY GLAS SES. DO NOT MO W WHEN CHILDREN OR OTHERS ARE AOUN D. NEVER CARR Y USE EXTRA CA UTION ON SLOPES. DO NOT MO W SLOPES GREA TER THAN 15°. MOW UP AND DOWN, NO T ACROSS . AV OID SUDDEN TURNS, USE LO W GEAR . READ OP[...]

8 SLOPE GAUGE (Keep this sheet in a safe place for future reference.) 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 ON D O T T E D L I N E , R E P R E SE N T I N G A 1 5 ° SL OP E USE THIS PAGE AS A GUIDE TO DETERMINE SLOPES WHERE YOU MAY NOT OPERATE SAFELY. WARNING Do not mow on in[...]

9 TO THE OWNER This Operator’s Ma nual is an im portant par t of your new tractor. The in formation con tained in this manual has been prepared in de tail to help you bet ter underst and the feat ures, correct o peration, adju stments, a nd maintenance of your tractor. The pe rformance and depe ndability of this tractor re ly greatly on the manne[...]

10 SECTION 1: CONTR OLS AND FEA TURES Figure 4 A B C D E F G H J K L M C F N. M. L. K. J. A. B. C. D. E. F. H. Deck Height Index RH and LH Drive Control Levers Deck Lift Handle Ignition Switch PTO Switch Transmission Bypass Rod (No t Shown) G. Cup Holder Storage Tray Seat Adjustment Leve r (Not Seen) Fuel Tank Cap Hour Meter / Indicator Panel Throt[...]

11 NOTE: References to LEFT, RIGHT, FRONT, and REAR indicate that position on the tracto r when facing forward whil e seated in the operato r’s seat. A. Deck Height Inde x The deck height index consists of six index notches located on t he front/ri ght of the seat bo x frame. Each notch correspo nds to a 1/2 inch change in the deck height posit i[...]

12 W ARNING: Never fi ll the fuel tank when the engine is running. If the engine is ho t from recently run ning, allow to cool for several minutes befor e refueling. Highly flammable gasoline c ould splash onto the engine and cause a fire. L. Hour Meter / Indicator Pa nel The hour mete r/indicator pan el is located on t he LH console to the left of[...]

13 N. Choke Contr ol The choke knob contro ls the position of the en gine choke. Pull the kno b out to choke the en gine; push the knob in to open the choke. O . P arking Brake Enga gement Lever The parking brake enga gement lever is located o n the front/left of the seat box f rame, and is used to engage the parkin g brake. • Pull the lever full[...]

14 • Gasohol (up to 10% ethyl alco hol, 90% unleade d gasoline by volume) is an appro ved fuel. Othe r gasoline/alcohol bl ends are not approved. • Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) and unleade d gasoline blends (up to a maxim um of 15% MTBE by volume) are approved fuels. Other gasoline/ ether blends a re not appr oved. • Check the engine oi[...]

15 • Observe the hour mete r / indicator p anel. If th e battery ind icator light or oil pressure light come on, immediate ly stop the eng ine. Have the t ractor inspected by your Cub Cadet dealer . COLD WEAT HER ST ARTING • When starting the engine at temperature s near or below freezing, ensur e the correct viscosity motor oil is used in the [...]

16 • Move the RH and LH driv e control le vers inward in the neutr al position . Refer to F igure 10. Figure 10 NOTE: If the contr ol levers are not eve n in the neutral position, re fer to Section 3 and adjust the levers so that they are even. • Move the throttle control l ever forward to t he full throttle position (3500-3600 RPM). NOTE: The [...]

17 - To turn to the right, move the right drive control lever rearwa rd of the left lever . See Figure 13. Figure 13 • T he greater the fore-to-aft dis tance betwee n the two levers, the sharper the tractor will turn. • To execute a "pivot turn," move the t urn side drive control lever t o the neutra l position, wh ile moving the othe[...]

18 Executing a Zer o T urn W ARNING: When executing a ze ro turn, the tractor MUST BE STOPPED. Executing a zero turn while the tractor is moving can sign ificantly re duce your control of the tra ctor and will cause severe turf defa cement to occur. • S top the forward or reverse motion of the tractor by moving t he two drive co ntrol levers to n[...]

19 USING THE MOW ER DECK W ARNING: Make certain the area to be mowed is free of debris, st icks, ston es, wire or other objects that ca n be thrown by the rota ting blad es. IMPORTANT: Do not enga ge the mower deck whe n lowered in gr ass. Premature wear and possible failur e of the ‘V” belt and PTO cl utch will result. Fully raise the deck or [...]

20 SECTION 3: ADJUSTMENTS ADJUSTING THE OPERATORS SEAT • To adjust the position of the se at, move and hold the seat adjustme nt leve r toward the left. Slide the seat fo rward or rear ward to t he desired position; the n release the adju stment lever. Ma ke sure seat is locked into p osition before operating the tractor. See Fig ure 19. Figure 1[...]

21 SECTION 4: MAINTENANCE ENGINE MAINTENANCE Engine maintenance pr ocedures and schedules ca n be found in th e engine manual th at was packed with this manua l. Follow thos e schedules fo r performing engine maintenance. Using the Engine Oil Drain V alve • Locate the oil drain valve on the le ft side of the engine. • Pop open the protective ca[...]

22 • Remove the hex cap screw and sems nut secur- ing the red positive battery lead to the posi tive battery post (marked POS). • Carefully lift the battery out of the tractor. Install the batter y by repeating the above steps in th e reverse or der. W ARNING: Always conne ct the positiv e lead to the batt ery before c onnecting th e negative l[...]

23 TIRE MAINTENANCE Check the tire a ir pressure af ter every 50 hour s of operation or we ekly. Keep the tire s inflated to the recommended pressures. Improper inflation will shorten th e service life of a tire. See th e tire side wall for proper infla tion pressures. Observe th e following guidelines: • Do not inflate a tire ab ove the maximum [...]

24 TRACTOR HIGH SPEED TRACKING If the tractor tr acks to one side with bot h drive control levers fully forward, adju st the control levers a s follows: • Check for proper and balanced air pr essure in both front and rear tires. Refill tires if necessary. • Perform the first three steps in th e previous sub- section, Tractor Cre eping, to verif[...]

25 TRACTOR STORAGE If your tr actor is not going to b e operated for an extended p eriod of time (thirty days to approximately six months), the tra ctor should be pr epared for stor - age. Store the tractor in a dr y and protect ed location. If stored outside, cover th e tractor (including t he tires) to protect it from the elements. The procedur e[...]

26 SECTION 5: MOWER DEC K This section contains remo val, installation, adjust- ment, and maintenance inf ormation for t he 50-inch mower deck. Instructions fo r installation and removal of the optional mu lching plug are loca ted at the end of this section. DECK REMOVAL Remove the mower deck from the tractor as follows: 1. Move the tr actor to a l[...]

27 7. Slide the deck forward so that the deck front hanger rod ca n be lifted out o f the two slots o f the front deck br acket. After lifting the front hang er rod out of the slot s, slide the deck rear ward so that the rod can no lon ger engage the slo ts. 8. Using car e to prevent the fr ont hanger rod fr om falling back into the deck bracket sl[...]

28 LEVELING THE MOWER DECK When leveled correctly th e mower deck should be level side to side, and should be approximately a 1/8 to 1/4 inch lower in the fr ont of the deck. Side to Side Leveling If the cutting deck appears to be mowing unevenly, a side to side adju stment can be performed. Adjust if necessary as follows: • With the tractor park[...]

29 ADJUSTING THE GAUGE WHEELS The cutting heig ht of the mower deck can be set in any of six height se ttings using the deck l ift handle of the tractor. The deck height s range from 1-1/2 inches to 4 inches. Th e deck gauge wheel posit ion should b e approximately 1/ 4 to 1/2 inch above the ground when the deck is set in the desired height set tin[...]

30 Mower Blade Care W ARNING: Before performing any main- tenance, place the PTO switch in the “OFF” position, en gage the par king brake lever, turn the ignition key to th e “OFF” position and remove th e key from the switch. When se rvicing the mowe r deck, be careful not to cut yourself on the sharpened bla des. The cutting blades must b[...]

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Cub Cadet LLC at P.O. Box 361131, Cleveland, Ohio 44136 -0019, or call 1-877-282- 8684, or MTD Canada Ltd. KITCHENER, ON N2G 4J1; Phone 1-800-668-1238 CUB CADET LLC MANUFACTURER’S LIMITED WARRANTY FOR RESIDENTIAL ZERO-TURN (“RZT”) MOWERS IMPORTANT: To obtain warranty c overage owner mus t present an original proof of p urchase and appl icable[...]