MTD Series 400 manual

Safety • Assembl y • Operation • Adjustments • Maintenance • T roubleshooting • P arts Lists • W arranty For US Customers: MTD LLC, P .O . BO X 361131 CLEVELAND, OHIO 44136-0019 For Canadian Customers: MTD Products Ltd., P . O. Bo x 1386, KITCHENER, ONT ARIO N2G 4J1 PRINTED IN U .S.A . OPERA T OR’S MANU AL IMPOR T ANT : READ SAFETY [...]

2 Finding and Recor ding Model Number Please do NO T return the unit to the retailer from whic h it was purc hased, without first contacting Customer Support. T able of Contents BE FORE Y OU ST ART A SSE MBLING Y OUR NEW E QUIP MENT , please loca te the model pla te on the eq uipment an d copy the the model numbe r and the se rial numbe r to the s[...]

3 1 Slope Gauge W ARNING Do not mo w on inclines with a slope in e xcess of 1 5 degree s (a rise of appro ximate ly 2- 1/ 2 fee t ev er y 1 0 fee t) . A riding mo wer could o ve r tu rn and cause s erious inj ury . If opera ting a w alk - behind mo we r on such a slope , it is extrem ely difficult to main tain y our footi ng and y ou could slip , r[...]

4 2 S a f e O p e r a t i o n P r a c t i c e s General Operation 1 . Read th is oper ator’s manual c arefull y in its ent irety b efore atte mptin g to assem ble thi s machi ne. Read, und ersta nd, and fo llow all in struc tions o n the mac hine an d in the manu al (s ) before op eratio n. Be com pletely fa miliar wi th the c ontrol s and the p [...]

5 Do: 1 . Mow ac ross th e face of slo pes ; never up and d own. Exerc ise ext reme cau tion wh en chang ing dire ctio n on slo pes. 2. Watch for ho les, rut s, roc ks, hidd en obje cts, or b umps wh ich can c ause you to sl ip or trip. T all gr ass can h ide ob stacl es. 3. Always be sur e of your footin g. A slip an d fall can c ause seri ous per[...]

6 3 1 . Remove loose par ts and any pack ing material whi ch may be between u pper and lower handl es. a. Pull up and b ack on the up per handle to rai se the handl e from positi on A into the operat ing positi on B. See Figure 1. b. Tig hten hand knobs ( star kno bs) sec uring upper handl e to lower handle. Make sure that each carri age bolt is se[...]

7 Figure 5 NOTE : Make cert ain bag is turned right side out before assembling (warning label will be on the outside ). NOTE : Make cert ain cables are routed to the outside of the handle so they are no t in the way when attaching t he grass catcher . 3 Figure 6 Figure 7 Never operate mo wer unless the hooks on the grass catcher are firm ly seated [...]

8 4 Operating Y our Lawn Mo wer Blade Control Handle The blad e control han dle is loc ated on the upper h andle of the mower . See Figure 8. T he blade cont rol handle must be d epressed in or der to operate the uni t. Release the blad e control han dle to stop the e ngine and blad e. Recoil Starter The rec oil star ter is attac hed to the rig ht [...]

9 W ARN ING : Wai t for the blade to stop completel y before doing any w ork on the mow er or to remov e the grass catcher . NOTE : T o o perate your unit using th e grass catc her , mulc her or optional s ide disc harge refer to page 7 . T o Stop Engine 1 . Release t he blade cont rol handle to sto p the engine and blad e. W ARN ING : The blade co[...]

10 5 M a i n t e n a n c e W ARNING Alwa ys s top engine, disconnect spark plug, and grou nd against eng ine before cleaning, lubr icating or doing an y kind of maintenance on y our machine. Figure 10 General Recommendations 1 . Always obser ve saf et y rules when per formin g any maintenanc e . 2. The warrant y on this lawn mower doe s not cover i[...]

11 5 W ARNING When remov ing the cutting blade for sharpenin g or replacement , protect yo ur hands with a pair of heavy glo ves or use a heavy rag to hold the blade. An unbalanced blade will ca use ex cessiv e vibration when ro tat - ing at hi gh spee ds. It may cau se damage to mo wer , and could break causing per - sonal inj ury . Figure 11 M a [...]

12 For r epa ir s beyond the minor adjust - ments liste d here, contact an autho r ized service deale r . 6 T r ouble Shooting Cause Pr oblem Remed y Engine fails to st art 1 . Blade c ontrol hand le disengag ed. 2. Spark pl ug wire disco nnected. 3. Fuel tank empt y or stale fue l. 4. Engine not pri med. 5. Fault y spark plug. 6. Bloc ked fuel lin[...]

13 TW O YEAR LIMITED W ARRANTY The lim ited warrant y set for th below is g iven by MTD LLC with res pect to new m erchand ise purc hased and u sed in the Un ited States a nd / or its terri tories an d posses sions, an d by MTD Produc ts Limited w ith resp ect to new mer chandi se purcha sed and used in Ca nada and / or its terr itories an d posses[...]