Bolens Series 544 manual

21” Mulching Mower Mode l Ser ies 54 4 Oper ator’ s Man ual IMPORT ANT : READ SAFETY R ULES AND INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULL Y MTD LLC, P .O . BO X 361131 CLEVELAND , OHIO 44136-0019 Warning: This unit is equipped with an internal combustion engine and should not be used on or near any unim proved forest- covered, brush-covered or grass-covered land u[...]

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Cont ent P age Important Safe O peration Practice s ........... ............. ................... ................... ..... 3 Slope G auge .................... ................... ............. ................... .................... ........... 6 Assembl ing Yo ur Lawn Mower ................... ................... ............[...]

3 SECTION 1: IMPORTANT SAFE OPERATION PR ACTICES WARNING: This symb ol poin ts out impor tant safety instructio ns which, if not followed, c ould endanger the p ersonal s afety a nd/or prop erty of y ourself and other s. Read and fol low all instruc tions in this man ual before at tempting to op erate this m achine. Fai lure to comply with these in[...]

4 continues to rotate for a fe w seconds after the engine i s shut off. Nev er place any p art of the body in the bla de area until yo u are sure the blade has stopped ro tating. 9. Never oper ate mower without pr oper trail shi eld, discharge cover, gras s catche r, blade con trol handle or ot her safety protec tive d evices in place and working. [...]

5 14. To reduce fire hazard, keep mower free of grass, leaves , or other debris build-up. Clean up oil or fuel spilla ge and remov e any fuel s oaked debris . 15. Allow a mow er to cool at leas t 5 minutes bef ore storin g. General Serv ice: 1. Never run an engine indoo rs or in a poorly ventila ted area. Engin e exhaust c ontains ca rbon monoxid e[...]

6 SECTION 2: SLOPE GAUGE Use this pag e as a guide to de termine slop es where you may not operate safely. Do not operate your lawn mower on such sl opes. 15° SIGHT AND HO LD THIS LEVE L WITH A VER TICAL TRE E 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 NI NG[...]

7 SECTION 3: ASSEMBLING YOUR LAWN MOWER IMPORT ANT: This unit i s shi pped with out ga soline or oil in the eng ine. Be certai n to service engi ne with gasolin e and o il as in structe d in the se parate e ngine m anual before ope rating you r mower. NOTE: Reference to right or le ft hand side of the mower is observ ed from the opera ting positi o[...]

8 Attaching Rear Wheels • Remove ha rdware from ha rdware pack. • Insert should er scre w throug h wave washer, fl at washer, rear wheel, and sp ring wash er. • Secure sh oulder screw wi th hardwar e to rear pivot bar. See Fig ure 5. Figure 5 Attaching Starter Rope • The ro pe guide is attached to the right si de of upp er handle. Loo sen t[...]

9 Conve rting T o Side Discharge • Your mower h as been shipped as a m ulcher. To conver t it to a side-dis charge mower , lift the mul ch- ing plu g. Slide the two hooks on the side -dischar ge deflector under the hinge pin on the mulc hing plug assembl y. Lower the m ulching plug.Se e Figure 9. • Do not remov e the side mulching plug at any t[...]

10 Cutting Height Adjustment Levers These le vers are lo cated on each wheel and are used to adj ust the cu ttin g heigh t. Thes e levers have to be at the same re lative posit ion to ensur e uniform cut.S ee Figure 10. Blade Control Handle The blade contr ol handle is loc ated on the upper handle of the mower. T he blade co ntrol handle mu st be d[...]

11 SECTION 6: MAKING ADJUSTMENTS WARNING: Do not at any time make a ny adjustments without first stopping en gine and disconnect ing spark plug wire. Handle Height Adjustment Your mower is shipp ed with the hand le in the highe r height p osition. T o lower the heig ht proc eed as follows: • Remo ve the star ter ro pe fr om th e ro pe gui de. •[...]

12 SECTION 7: MAINTAINING YOUR LAWN MOWER General Recommendations • Always observe sa fety rules when performing an y maintenan ce. • The warr anty on this lawn mower doe s not cover items t hat ha ve been subjected to oper ator a buse or neglig ence. To recei ve full value fr om the warranty, op erator must ma intain the lawn mower as instruc [...]

13 Lubrication Always stop engine a nd disconnect spark plug wire befo re cleaning, lubricat ing or doing any kind of service work on the lawn mower. Blade Control: Lub ricate the pivot po ints on the bl ade control handle and the brake cable at l east once a season wi th light oil. The blade contr ol must ope rate freely in both directio ns. See F[...]

14 • Remove the blade and the ad apter from the cranks haft. Fig ure 1 5 WARNING: Periodical ly inspect the blade adapter for cracks, espec ially if you strike a foreign ob ject. Replace wh en necessar y. When shar pening the blade, follo w the origina l angle of grind as a guide. It is extre mely impo rtant that each cutting edg e receiv es an e[...]

15 SECTION 8: TROUBLESHOOTING NOTE: Fo r repair s bey ond the minor adj ustments above, contact your lo cal authorized servic e deale r. Problem Cau se Rem edy Eng ine fail s to s tart 1. Blad e contr ol hand le dise ngaged . 2. Spark p lug wire disconn ected. 3. Fuel tank emp ty or stale fuel. 4. Blocked fue l line. 5. Faulty s park pl ug. 6. Engi[...]

16 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 13 61 14 15 16 17 18 19 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 38 37 39 41 41 42 43 44 46 47 58 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 36 35 56 57 2 59 10 11 Model Series 544 40 45 60 62[...]

17 Model Series 544 Ref. No. P ar t No. P ar t Description 1. 749-1092A Upper Han dle 2. 747-1161A Control Hand le 3. 720-0279 Handle Knob 4. 710-1205 Rope Gui de 5. 710-1174 Carriage Bolt 5/16 -18 x 2 ” 6. 736-0451 Shoulder W asher.320 ID x.930 O D 7. 720-0284 Wing Nut 8. 749-0928A Lower Han dle 9. 746-0957 Control Cabl e 37.25 ” 10. 664-04005[...]

18 NOTES[...]

19 NOTES[...]

MANUF A CTURER ’ S LIMIT ED W ARRANTY FOR: The lim ited warran ty set forth belo w is giv en by Troy-Bil t LLC with re spect to ne w merch andise purc hased an d used i n the United States, i ts possess ions an d territorie s. Troy-B ilt LLC warrants this prod uct against defects for a period o f two (2) years co mmencing on the da te of o rigina[...]