Yard Machines Series 540 manual

IMPORT ANT : READ SAFETY RU LES AND INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULL Y MTD PRODUCTS INC. P .O . BO X 3680 22 CLEV EL AND , OHIO 44136-9722 Warning: This unit is eq uipped with an internal combustion engine and should not be used on or near any unimproved forest- covered, brush-cove red or grass-c overed land unless the engine’s exhaust sy stem is equipped w[...]

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Cont ent Page Important Safe O peratio n Prac tices ................. ............. ................... ............. ..... 3 Slope G auge ............. ............. .................... ............. ............ ............. ............. ..... 6 Assembl ing Yo ur L awn Mower ............ ............. ................... ..[...]

3 SECTION 1: IMPORTANT SAFE OPERATION PRACTICES WARNING: T his symb ol points ou t impor tant saf ety instruc tions which, if no t followed, c ould endanger the perso nal saf ety and/o r prop erty o f yoursel f and others . Read and fol low all ins tructi ons in this man ual before at temptin g to oper ate this mac hine. Fai lure to com ply with th[...]

4 unclogg ing th e chute. The cuttin g blade continues to rotate for a few sec onds afte r the engi ne is sh ut off. Never pla ce any part of the body in the blade area unti l you are sure the b lade has stopped rotating. 20. Never ope rate mow er without p roper trail shield , discha rge cover , grass c atcher, bl ade cont rol handle or other safe[...]

5 interval s for proper tigh tness. Also, visu ally inspect bla de for dama ge (e.g., b ent, crack ed, wor n) Replace blade with the orig inal equipmen t manufa cture’ s (O.E.M. ) blade only, l isted in this man ual. “Use of parts whi ch do not meet the original equipme nt speci fications may lead to improper performan ce and c ompromise safety[...]

6 SECTION 2: SLOPE GAUGE Use this pag e as a guide to de termine s lopes w here you ma y not operat e safel y. Do not operat e your lawn mower on such sl opes. 15° SIGHT AND HO L D THIS LEVEL W IT H A VERTICA L 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 s hippe d with out ga soline or oil in the engine . Be cer tain to servi ce engine wi th gasolin e and o il as inst ructed in th e se parate engine manua l before ope rating you r mower. NOTE: Reference to right or le ft hand side of the mower is observ ed from the oper ating positio[...]

8 Attachin g Starter Rope • The ro pe guide is attac hed to the right side o f upper handle. Loo sen the wi ng nut which s ecures the rope guid e. See Figu re 5. Figure 5 • With t he s park p lug wire disc onnected and grounded , hold the blade cont rol hand le aga inst the upper h andle, and pull th e sta rter rop e out of th e engine. Rel eas[...]

9 SECTION 4: KNOW YOUR LAWN MOWER Read this ope rator’s man ual and safety rules befor e operatin g yo ur lawn mower. Compar e the illus tration in Figure 9 with you r lawn mower t o fami liariz e your self with the lo catio n of variou s control s and adjus tments. Save th is manual fo r futur e refer ence. WARNING: The opera tion of any lawn mo[...]

10 • Stand behi nd the mow er and squee ze the bl ade control hand le agai nst th e upper hand le. • Grasp re coil star ter handl e and pul l rope out sl owly until engi ne reache s the start of c ompres sion cycle (rope will pu ll sligh tly harde r at this poi nt). Let th e rope rewind s lowly . Pull rop e with a rapid, continuo us, full arm s[...]

11 Fig ure 11 IMPORT ANT: All wheels m ust be plac ed in the same relativ e posit ion. For rough or une ven law ns, mov e the height ad justmen t lever to a higher pos itio n. This wil l help stop s calping of the grass. Engine Ad justments See the sepa rate engin e manual packed with your unit for adj ustments to the engin e. SECTION 7: MAINTAININ[...]

12 Lubrication Always stop engine a nd disconnect spark plug wire befo re cleaning, lubricating or doing any kind of service work on the lawn mower. Blade Control: Lub ricate the piv ot points on the blade control handle an d the brake cable at least onc e a season wi th light oil. The bla de control mus t opera te freely in both direct ions. See F[...]

13 • Remove the blade and the ad apter from the cranks haft . Fig ure 14 WARNING: Period ically inspec t the bla de adapter for cracks, espec ially if you strike a foreign ob ject. Repla ce when neces sary. When shar penin g the blade, fol low the orig inal an gle of grind as a guide. It is ex tremely important th at each cutting edg e rece ives [...]

14 SECTION 8: TROUBLESHOOTING NOTE: For rep airs b eyond the minor adjustme nts a bove, c ontact your loca l author ized s ervic e de aler. Problem Cau se Rem edy Eng ine fail s to start 1. Blad e co ntrol h andle dise ngaged . 2. Spark plug wi re dis connec ted. 3. Fuel tank emp ty or stal e fuel. 4. Block ed fuel line . 5. Faulty s park plug. 6. [...]

15 Notes[...]

16 Model Series 540 1 2 11 3 13 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 82 39 40 85 83 84 63 64 72 71 60 44 43 42 41 93 16 17 81 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 22 24[...]

17 Model Series 540 Ref. No. P a rt No. P ar t Description 1. 747-0824 Control Hand le Assembly 647-0004 Deluxe Control Handle 2. 710-1205 Rope Gui de 3. 720-0279 Handle Knob 4. 710-1174 Curved Hd. Bolt 5/16-18 x 2 ” 5. 712-0324 Hex L-Nu t 1/4-20 Th d. 6. 720-0314 Hand Kn ob 9. 710-1270 Screw 1/ 4-20 x 1.3 1 11. 749-0438C Upper Handl e 12. 720-02[...]

18[...]

19[...]

MANUF A C TURER ’ S LIMITED W ARRAN TY FOR: The l imit ed wa rrant y set f or t h below is gi ven by MTD PRODUCTS INC ( “ MTD ” ) with respe ct to ne w mercha ndise purchase d and used in the U nited States , its posse ssions and ter ritories. MTD war rants this prod uct against def ects in material and workman s hip f or a period of two (2) [...]