7. Movethedecklift leverintothe top notchon theright •
fendertoraisedecklift armsupandout of the way.
8. Carefullyslidethecuttingdeckforwardandremove
thedeckbelt fromaroundthe tractor'sPTOpulleyon
thebottomoftheengine.
9. Continuetorollthe decktowardthefrontofthetractor
untilthefrontdeckhangerrodcanbe removedfrom °
theslotsofthe hangerbracketat thefrontofthedeck.
10.Whileholdingthefrontdeckhangerrodupwarduntil
it clearsthehangerbracketonthe frontof the deck,
carefullyslidethedeckout fromthe rightside of the
tractor.
Cutting
A
Blades
WARNING:Besuretoshuttheengine
off,removeignition key,disconnect
thesparkplugwire(s) to preventun-
intendedstartingbeforeremovingthe
cuttingblade(s)for sharpeningor re-
placement.Protectyourhandsbyusing
heavyglovesor a ragto graspthe cut-
tingblade.
WARNING:Periodicallyinspect the
bladespindlesfor cracksordamage,
especiallyifyoustrikea foreign object.
Replaceimmediatelyif damaged.
Thebladesmaybe removedas follows.
• Removethe deckfrombeneaththetractor,(referto
CuttingDeckRemovalonpage24)thengentlyflipthe
deckovertoexposeits underside.
A blockof woodmaybeplacedbetweenthe deck
housingandthe cuttingedgeof the bladeto helpin
breakingloosethehex nut securingthe blade.See
Figure24.
('I"- WoodBlock
HexFlangeNut
SpindleAssembly
k,,.. j
Figure 24
Useawrenchtoloosenthehexflangenutthatsecures
thebladetothe spindle.Holdingthebladeontothestar
hubofthespindle,orusinga secondwrenchto hold
thenutatthetopof thespindle,securethe spindleand
removetheflangenutandcuttingblade.Repeatto
removetheotherthreeblades.
Toproperlysharpenthe cuttingblades,remove
equalamountsof metalfrombothendsoftheblades
alongthecuttingedges,paralleltothe trailingedge,
ata 25oto 30oangle.
IMPORTANT:Ifthecuttingedgeof thebladehas
alreadybeensharpenedto within 15/8"fromthe edge,
or if anymetalseparationis present,replacetheblades
withnewones.SeeFigure25.
WindWing
Figure 25
• It isimportantthateachcuttingbladeedgebe
groundequallyto maintainproperbladebalance.
A poorlybalancedbladewillcauseexcessive
vibrationand maycausedamageto thetractorand
resultinpersonalinjury.The bladecan betested
bybalancingit ona roundshaftscrewdriver.Grind
metalfromtheheavysideuntilit balancesevenly.
• Whenreplacingtheblade,be suretoinstallthe
bladewiththeside of the blademarked"Bottom"(or
witha part numberstampedin it) facingtheground
whenthemowerisintheoperatingposition.
IMPORTANT:Usea torquewrenchtotightentheblade
spindlehexflangenutto between70foot-poundsand
90foot-pounds.
WARNING
Usecaution when
handlingthe cutting
blades.The sharp-
ened edges could
cause severe cutsto
your hands.
Shut tractor engine
off, removeignition
key,and disconnect
the spark plugwire(s)
before proceeding
with job. Protect
your handsby using
heavygloves or a rag
to graspthe cutting
blade
25