Troy-Bilt Automatic Lawn Tractor manual

PRINTED IN U .S.A. 772C0738 (12/2004) Au t o m a t i c L a w n Tr a c t o r Oper ator’ s Man ual IMPOR T ANT : READ SAFETY R ULES AND INSTR UCTIONS CAREFULL Y P . O . BO X 1386, KITCHENE R, ONT ARIO , CANAD A N2G 4J1[...]

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 understand what it says. Before you st art assembling your ne w equipment , please locate the model pla te on the equipment and copy the info[...]

3 SECTION 1: IMPORTANT SAFE OPERATION PRACTICES WARNING: This symbol points out im portant safety instru ctions which, if n ot followed, could e ndanger the personal safety and/or property of yo urself and others. Read and follow all instructions 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 accidents, always disengage the cutting blade(s) befor e shifting into reverse. The “Reverse Caution Mode ” should not be used when children or others are around. 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 thorize[...]

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 adjustm ents or re pairs 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 safely. 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 la wn 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 le C on tro l 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 uni[...]

11 Figure 7 NOTE: Any referenc e in this manual to the RIGHT or LEFT side of the tr actor is observed from operator’s position. NOTE: Hood styles var y by model. A Systems Indicator M onitor/Hour Meter G Throttle Lever B PTO (Blade Engage) Leve r † H Cruise Control Button PTO (Blade Engage) Knob † I Ignition Switch Module C Choke Knob J Brake[...]

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 ting. To start the engine, insert the key into the ignition switch and turn clockwise to the START position. Release the key[...]

13 Electric PTO (Blade Engage) Knob T o engage the po wer to the cutting deck or ot her (separately available) attachm ents on models equipped with an e lectric PTO , pull outward on the PT O (Blade Engage) knob . Push the PT O (Blade Engage) knob inward to disengage the po wer to the cutting deck. NOTE: The PTO (Blade Engage) knob must be i n t h [...]

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 sh ift 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 trac tor can be driven in reverse with the cutt ing blades (PTO) en[...]

16 Stopping the Engine WARNING: I f you strik e 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 outwar d 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 [...]

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 complete sto p 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 follow s: • Loo[...]

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

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 separat ely-av ailable dec k wash system. Use the Deck Wash System to rinse gras s clippings from the deck’s un derside and prev ent build-up of corrosive chem icals. Refer to pa[...]

22 • Always keep the battery cables and terminals clean and free of corrosive bu ild-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 preve nt shorting. IMPORT ANT: If remo ving the battery for any reason[...]

23 IMPORT ANT: If the cutti ng edge of the blade has already been sharpene d to within 5/8" of the win d 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 ground equally to maintain pr oper blade balance. A poorly balanced blade w ill [...]

24 46-inch Decks with Electric PTO Insert a 3/8”-d rive ratchet wrench (se t to loosen) into the square hol e found in the idler brac ket on the left side of the deck’s surface. See Fig ure 22. • Grasp the ratche t’s handle and pivot it toward the tractor’s right side to relieve tension on the belt. • With belt tension relieved, car efu[...]

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 roub le P ossible Cause(s) Corrective Action Engine fails to start PT O engaged. P arking brak e not engag ed. Spark pl ug wire(s) disconnected. Throttle control le ver not in c orrect star ting position. 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 TWO YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY For TWO YEARS from the date of retail purchase within Canada, MTD PRODUCTS LIMITED will, at its option, re - pai r or replace, for the original purchaser, free of charge, any part or parts found to be defective in material or workmanship. Thi s warranty does not cover: 1. Any part which has become inoperative due to mi[...]