# First Mow



## Lawn Ranger (Jul 16, 2017)

I just mowed my first whole lawn. Or at least I beat it up a little. Question: is it okay if I see sparks shoot out from under the deck?

I showed up on the forum a few weeks back to get info on garden tractors and so on, so I am here to report. I moved to my new (to me) northern Florida home nine days ago, and today I fired up the John Deere 430 and took it out of the barn for the first time. Once it was moving, I felt I had to keep going and cut grass.

The guy who sold it to me said something about keeping the throttle on high while mowing. I did not understand the functions of the throttle and the hydrostatic shift, so I had some hairy moments trying to mow at top speed. The shift was hard to get used to. I kept trying to find a clutch, but the manual doesn't mention one, so I figured I was supposed to push the lever and not worry about it.

These things turn pretty fast, don't they? I had no idea. I got whipped around pretty good.

I really did make some sparks. I was trying to do twelve things at once, and I clipped a bit of sandstone. I hope I didn't ruin anything. I have spare blades, and now I see why the previous owner bought them. Maybe I've found a new use for the belt grinder.

I thought the yard would take a year to cut, but it looks like a competent person could do it in half an hour. It's big, but it appears that most of it is not mowable.

I appreciate the tips I got here. I hope the mower survives my learning curve.


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## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

Lawn Ranger said:


> Question: is it okay if I see sparks shoot out from under the deck?


Probably only if you are at a monster truck rally.

Congrats on the new place!


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## Lawn Ranger (Jul 16, 2017)

Thanks. If only it had astroturf.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

dfw_pilot said:


> Lawn Ranger said:
> 
> 
> > Question: is it okay if I see sparks shoot out from under the deck?
> ...


 :laugh:


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