MTD 44M manual

Safety • Assembl y • Operation • Tips & T echniques • Maintenance • T roubleshooting • P ar ts Lists • Warranty Warning : This un it is equi pped wi th an internal c ombu stion en gine and s hould not be u sed on or near any unim proved forest-c overed, brush- covered or grass -c overed land unles s the eng ine’ s exhaus t syste[...]

2 Slope Gauge........................................................ 3 Safe Operation Practices ................................... 4 Setup and Adjustment ....................................... 6 Operating Y our Lawn Mo wer .............................. 8 Maintaining Y our Lawn Mo wer ......................... 10 T roub le Shooting .............[...]

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

4 2 Safe Operat ion Practices Children T ragic accidents can occur if operator is not aler t to presence of children. Children are often attracted to mow er and mowing activity . They do not understand the dangers . Nev er assume that children will remain where you last sa w them. 1. K eep children out of the mowing area and under watchful care of [...]

5 1 9. Shu t the en gine o ff a nd wait un til th e blad e com es to a com plete s top be fore rem oving t he gra ss cat cher or u nc log - ging t he c hute. The c ut ting b lade c ont inues t o rotate for a few s eco nds af ter the e ngin e is shu t off. Never pl ace any par t o f the b ody in the b lade are a unti l you are sure t he bla de has s[...]

6 3 Setup and Adjustment 1 . Follow the step s below to pos ition t he handl e. a. Lif t the u pper han dle up from t he folde d posit ion and pull i t back to the ex tended p ositi on. See Figure 3 - 1 . Do not cri mp cab les. The ha ndle should c lic k into this po sitio n. b. Make sure the c arriag e bolt is s eated proper ly in the hand le. Tig[...]

7 3 Setup and Adjustment Never operate mo wer unless the hooks on the grass catcher are firm ly seated on the piv ot rod and the rear discharge door rests firm ly against t op of the grass catcher . W ARNING CUT T IN G HEI GH T: For rough o r uneven lawns , move the heig ht adjust men t lever to a highe r posit ion. T his will help p revent sca lpi[...]

8 4 Operating Y our Lawn Mo wer Blade Control The blad e control i s att ached to th e upper ha ndle of the mower . D epress an d squeeze it agains t the upp er handl e to operate the u nit. Relea se it to stop en gine and blade. W ARN IN G : T his bla de co ntrol m echa nism is a safe ty d evice. N ever at tempt to byp ass its ope rati ons. Drive [...]

9 4 Operating Y our Lawn Mo wer W ARNING The operation of any la wn mow er can result in f oreign objects being thrown int o the eyes, wh ich can damage you r ey es sev erely . Alwa ys wear safety glasses while operat- ing the mo wer , or while performing any ad justments or repairs on it. Be sure no one other than the operator is standing near the[...]

10 5 Maintaining Y our Lawn Mo wer W ARNING Alwa ys stop engi ne, disconnect spark plug, and grou nd against eng ine before cleaning, lubr icating or doing an y kind of maintenance on y our machine. NO TE: Do not use a press ure w asher or garden hos e to clean yo ur unit. The se ma y cause da mage to electric componen ts, spindles, p ulle ys, be a[...]

11 5 Maintaining Y our Lawn Mo wer W ARNING When remov ing the cutting blade for sharpenin g or replacement or when slidi ng the belt around it, 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 ce ssiv e vibration when ro tat- ing at hi gh spee ds. It may cau se damage to mo w[...]

12 For repairs bey ond the minor adj ust- ments listed here, contact an authori zed service de aler . 6 T r ouble Shooting Cause Pr oblem Remedy En gine fails t o star t 1 . Blade c ontrol d isengag ed. 2. Spark pl ug boot di sconn ected. 3. Fuel tank empt y or stal e fuel. 4. CHOKE n ot activated. 5. Faulty spar k plug. 6. Bloc ked fuel line. 7 . [...]

13 7 Off Season Storage and Safety Labels 4 / .  / $   9 2 5 * . )  & /  + 3 ) 2  % ( 4  % # 5 $ % 2  / 4  3 3 % , . 5  % 4 ! 2 % 0 /  2 /  2 % 6 / #  % ' 2 ! ( # 3 ) $ ! #  3 3 ! 2 '  % # ! , 0  2 % 0 / 2 0  3 4 )  . )  3 )  2 % ( # 4  9 , % 4 ! ) $ % - - )  % # ! , 0 [...]

14 8 Engine Safe Operat ion Practices Gasoline and its v apors ar e extremely flammable and ex plosiv e. Fire or ex plosion can cause se vere burns or death. If gasoline i s spilled on y ourself or yo ur clothes, wash y our skin and change clothes immediatel y . • When add ing fuel, tur n engine OFF an d let engine cool at l east 2 minutes b efor[...]

15 Runn ing engine produces heat. Engine parts, especially muffler , become extremely hot . Sev ere thermal burns can occu r on contact. Combustible debris, such as lea ves, grass, brush, et c., can catch fi re. • Allow muf fler, engine cylind er , and f ins to coo l before touchi ng. • Keep child ren awa y from hot or ru nning eng ines. They c[...]

16 9 Operating Y our Engine Pre-Operation Check Oil Recommendations IMPORT ANT : This engin e is shipp ed wi thout g aso - line or o il in the e ngine. R unning th e engin e with insuf fici ent oil ca n cause s erious e ngine d amag e and void th e engin e warrant y. • Before star ti ng engin e, fill with oil. Do n ot over -fill. O il capac it y [...]

17 Check Oil Le vel IM PORT AN T: Be sure to che ck the e ngine o n a level sur face wi th th e engin e stopp ed. 1 . Remove the oil fill er cap and w ipe the d ipsti ck cl ean. See Figure 9 -2. 2. Inser t the di psti ck into the o il filler ne ck, but d o not screw it in. 3. If the level is low, slowly add oil to th e upper li mit on the di pstic [...]

18 Oil Change IM PORT AN T : Be sure to ch eck eng ine on a level sur face with t he engine s toppe d. Drain the o il while t he engin e is still warm to as sure rapi d and com plete drain ing. 1 . Remove oil fill ca p and drain o il by either removin g drain plu g or turning m ower on its side ( air cl eaner sid e up) a nd allowing o il to drain i[...]

19 Spark Plug Service W ARN IN G : D O NOT ch eck for s park with sp ark plug re moved. DO N OT crank engin e with sp ark plug r emoved. T o ensure proper e ngine o peration, t he spark p lug must be prop erly gap ped and fre e of depos its. 1 . Remove the spark p lug boot an d use a spark p lug wrench to re move the plug. See Fig ure 1 0 -3. W ARN[...]

20 3. Measure t he plug ga p with a feeler g auge. Correc t as nec essar y by bend ing sid e elec trode. See Fi gure 1 0 - 4. The gap sho uld be set to 0.03 0 in. 4. Check t hat the spar k plug washer is i n goo d cond i- tion an d thread the s park plug in by han d to prevent cross -threadin g. 5. After th e spark pl ug is seated, tig hten with a [...]

NO TES 21[...]

22 Model 44M Wheel T reads Bar T read S-Wave T read 10 35 50 34 21 14 15 18 33 20 45 49 47 53 22 28 26 30 41 16 13 23 24 51 25 27 39 37 36 40 31 63 62 61 59 60 56 52 19 64 46 32 43 29 44 29 17 43 42 57 55 38 3 2 4 58 43 54 8 6 7 9 12 11 5 48 1[...]

23 8 P ar ts List IMPORT ANT Fo r a proper w orking machine , use Fa ctory Appro ved P ar ts. V - BEL TS are specially designed t o engage and disen gage saf ely . A substit ute (non OEM) V - Belt can be danger - ous b y not disen gaging complet ely . T o ord er replacement parts , contact 1 - 8 00 - 80 0 - 731 0 or visit www. mt dpro duc ts. com R[...]

24 7 6 11 10 8 12 5 4 14 21 29 1 3 2 9 20 27 13 26 25 24 22 23 16 28 17 17 15 18 19 Engine 1P70[...]

25 11 Illustrated P ar ts List Ref. No. Par t No. De scripti on 1 . 9 5 1- 1 0 36 8 Fuel T a nk 2. 95 1- 1 03 69 Fl yw heel Shrou d 3. 95 1- 1 03 35 R ubber Fuel T ank Mount ing Washer 4. 95 1 - 10334 O il Filler T ub e Assemb ly 5. 95 1- 10333 Dipst ick As sembl y 6. 95 1- 1 0 4 1 3 Cylin der Head Co mplete 7 . 951 - 104 1 4 Shor t Blo ck Asse mbl[...]

MTD LLC (MTD), The United States Envir onment Protection Agency (U . S. EP A) Emission Control System W arranty Statement (Owner’ s Defect W arranty Rights and Obligations) The U. S. EP A and MTD are pleas ed to explain th e emissi ons contr ol system warrant y on your model year 20 05 an d later small of f-road eng ine. New small of f-road en gi[...]

(7) The engine manu facturer is li able for dam ages to other en gine co mpone nts proximately caus ed by a failure under warrant y of any warranted par t. (8 ) Throu ghout th e engine’s warranty peri od defin ed in Subse cti on (a ) ( 2) , MTD wil l maintain a su pply of warrante d par ts suf fici ent to meet the expecte d demand for su ch par t[...]

The limi ted warranty s et fort h below is gi ven by MTD LLC with respec t to new merchan dise purc hased a nd used in t he United St ates, its pos ses- sions an d territori es. “ MTD” warrant s this pro duc t against d efects in m aterial and work manshi p for a perio d of two ( 2 ) years com menci ng on the d ate of origina l purchas e and wi[...]