Craftsman 917.37459 - Manual (Page 11)

OPERATION
MULCHING MOWING TIPS
IMPORTANT; FOR BEST PERFORMANCE, KEEP
MOWER HOUSING FREE OF BUILT-UP GRASS AND
TRASH. SEE “CLEANING” IN CUSTOMER
RESPONSIBILITIES SECTION OF THIS MANUAL.
® The special mulching blade will recut the grass clip­
pings many times and reduce them in size so that as
they fall onto the lawn they will disperse into the grass
and not be noticed. Also, the mulched grass will
biodegrade quickly to provide nutrients for the lawn.
Always mulch with your highest engine (blade) speed
as this will provide the best recutting action of the
blades.
;
* Avoid cutting your lawn when it is wet. Wet grass tends
to form clumps and Interferes with the mulching action.
The best time to mow your lawn is the early afternoon.
At this time the grass has dried and the newly cut area
will not be exposed to the direct sun.
® For best results, adjust the lawn mower cutting height
so that the lawn mower cuts off only the top one-third
of the grass blades (See Fig. 10). If the iawn is
overgrown it will be necessary to raise the height of cut
to reduce pushing effort and to keep from overloading
the engine and leaving dumps of mulched grass. For
extremely heavy mulching, reduce your width of cut by
overlapping previously cut path and mow slowly.
• Certain types of grass and grass conditions may re­
quire that an area be mulched a second time to
completely hide the clippings. When doing a second
cut, mow across or perpendicuiar to the first cut path.
® Change you r cutting pattern from week to week. Mow
north to south one week then change to eastto west the
next week. This will help prevent matting and graining
of the lawn.
FIG. 10
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