John Deere 14SB Walk Behind Mower

[Ziutek]

Greetings!

As I wrote in "New members" section, I'm totally NEWBIE in using gasoline powered mowers. Last autumn I bought John Deere 14SB mower from 1995 with 5hp 4-cyl Kawasaki engine. As the inscriptions on body says it was sold as new in France (don't know if this makes a difference for you:smile: ).
I would like to gently ask you for all the tips I should know while using this mower. How to start it? What should I avoid, or what to pay the attention on in this machine. I would like to use it as best as it's possible to.
Here's borrowed photo of this machine


What are all those switches and cables for? When should or should't I use them? Gearbox? How to use it, or how not to.

Also, here I took photo of some kind of black switch. What is it used for?



I can't find any user's manual in web sadly. The only one I found is repair manual, but there aren't any simple informations about general use...

I hope you can give me some helping hand with this great lawn mower. Sadly, John Deere mowers aren't so popular here in Poland. Husqvarnas and Hondas took all the job :tongue:

 

[JoeM(GA)]

the knob you show is the fuel shut off, can't remember which way is off, but should be a picture molded into the top by it to tell you.

Standing behind the machine, on the left side of handlebar, the lever to the outside left is the transmission shift lever, you have 5 speeds, back is slowest.
lever next to it is the throttle, all the way back to you shuts the engine off, all the way forward is the choke position for starting.
The single lever on the right is the mower blade engagement, it is spring loaded and will not stay locked unless the top crossbar is pulled against the handlebar and held there.
This is a safety item to keep you behind the mower while the blade is spinning. Any time you release the top crossbar the blades will stop, but motor will continue to run.
The bottom crossbar engages the transmission at what ever speed you have chosen with the 1-5 lever. This is how one is set up in the US, but I think they were the same when shipped elsewhere.

Hope all this makes since!

Joe

 

[Ziutek]

Thank you Joe!
You gave me many important tips.
The "grass" season starts here in april, so I would like to be well prepared for it. I will check my JD for all that stuff today.
Cheers :smile: