MTD 500 Thru 519 manual

IMPOR T ANT : Read saf ety rules and instructions ca refull y befo re operati ng equipment. MTD PR ODUCTS INC . P . O . BO X 36 8022 CLEVELAN D , OHIO 4413 6-9722 22” Rotary Mowers Model Se ries 500 Thru 519 PRINTED IN U .S.A. Warning: T h is unit is equipped with an internal combustion engine and should not be used on or near any unimproved fore[...]

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Cont ent Page Maintain ing Safe ty ................. ............. .................... ............ ............. .................. 3 Slope G auge .................... ............. ................... ............. ................... ............. ..... 6 Assemblin g Your Lawn Mower ............ ............. ............. .[...]

3 SECTION 1: MAINTAINING SAFETY This War ning symbol points out im portant sa fety instruc tions whic h, if not follo wed, could en danger the perso nal safe ty and/o r proper ty of y ourself and o thers. Read and follow all instructio ns in this m anual before at tempting to ope rate your law n mower. Failure to comply wi th these instr uctions m [...]

4 • Never operat e the mo wer in wet grass. Always be sure of your footing . A slip an d fall can c ause serious personal injury. Kee p a firm hold on the handle and walk, nev er run. If you feel y ou are losing y our footing, RELEASE THE BLA D E CONTROL HANDLE IMMEDIATELY an d the blade will stop rota ting within three sec onds. • Mow o nly in[...]

5 • Keep all n uts, bolts, and s c rews ti ght to be s ure the equipme nt is in safe work ing cond ition. • Never ta mper with sa fety devic es. Check their proper operation regularly. • After str iking a foreign obje ct, stop the engin e, remove the wire from the spark plug, and thoroughly inspect the mower f or any damage . Repai r the dama[...]

6 SECTION 2: SLOPE GAUGE Use this pag e as a guide to de termine s lopes where y ou may no t operate sa fely. Do not operate y our lawn mower on such sl opes. 15° SIGHT AND HO L D THIS LEVEL W IT H A VER TICAL TREE A POWER POLE A CORNER OF A BUI LDING 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 WAR [...]

7 SECTION 3: ASSEMBLING YOUR LAWN MOWER IMPORT ANT : This unit is sh ipped w ithout gasoli ne or oil in th e engine. Be cer tain to servi ce engin e with gasoli ne and o il as instru cted in the separ ate engi ne m anual before ope rating you r mower. NOTE: Reference to rig ht or left hand s ide of the mo wer is observ ed from the oper ating pos it[...]

8 • With t he spar k plug wire di sconnec ted and grounded , hold the blade contro l handle agains t the upper h andle, and pu ll the starter rope out of the engine. Rel ease the blad e control handle. Slip the starter rope into the rope guide. Ti ghten the wing nut. Installing Front Wheels • Securel y place the fron t of mower on rais ed block[...]

9 Figure 9 Installing Side Discharge Chute If your mowe r is equip ped with the opti onal side dischar ge chute, i nstall it followin g these in structi ons: • Slide th e hooks o f the side d ischarge c hute over the hinge pin on the m ulching baffle. Ma ke su re that the hooks sn aps into place, loc king the ch ute firmly onto the mo wer. See Fi[...]

10 SECTION 5: OPERATING YOUR LAWN MOWER WARNING: K eep hands and feet away from chute a rea on the c utting deck . The operation of any lawn mower can r esult in foreign objects being t hrown into the eyes, which c an result in s evere eye d amage. Always w ear safety glas ses or eye sh ields. Gas and Oil Fill-Up Servi ce the engine with gasoli ne [...]

11 Fig ure 11 Handle Height Adjustment Your mower is shipp ed with the hand le in the highe r height p osition. To l ower the height proceed as fol lows: • Remo ve the star ter ro pe fr om th e rope guid e. • Discon nect the hand le from the han dle brack et assembl ies by removi ng the wing nuts . See Figu re 12. • Positi on each hand le bra[...]

12 • Some adj ustment s will have to be m ade periodi cally to m aintai n your unit proper ly. All adjustme nts in the Mak ing Adj ustments s ection of this manua l should be checked at least once ea ch season. • Perio dically check al l fasten ers and mak e sure thes e are tig ht. • Follow the maintena nce sched ule under Cu stomer Responsi [...]

13 When shar pening the blade, follo w the orig inal angle of grind as a guide. It is ex tremely impo rtant that eac h cutting edg e receiv es an equal amount of grin ding to prevent an unbalanc ed blade. An unbalan ced blade will cause ex cessiv e vibrat ion when rotating at hi gh speed s. It may caus e damage to the mower, an d could break ca usi[...]

14 Models 500 thru 519 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 6 11 13 14 16 17 17 17 17 19 21 20 11 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 34 33 36 37 38 39 31 40 42 43 44 45 46 18 12 10 15 41[...]

15 Models 500 thru 519 Ref . No. Part No. Part Description 1. 747-1161 Blade Control H andle 2. 749-1092 Upper Ha ndle 3. 746-0957 Control C able - B&S 746-1091 Control C able - Tec 4. 710-1205 Eye Bolt 5. 720-0279 Wing Nut 6. 720-0241 Wing Nut 7. 736-0451 Shoul der Washer .320 ID x .93 OD 8. 710-1174 Carriage Bo lt 5/16-18 x 2.0 9. 725-0157 Ca[...]

MANUF A CTURER ’ S LIMITED W ARRANTY The limit ed warran ty set f or th below is giv en by MT D PR OD- UCTS INC ( “ MTD ” ) with respect to ne w merchandise pur- chased and used in the U nited St ates, i ts possession s and territories. MTD w arrants this product again st def ects in material a nd workma nship fo r a period of tw o (2) yea rs[...]