Thanks for the picture, BTDT. I will give that a look next time I head out to the shed.
Well, all the neighbors were mowing their lawns over the last couple days, so I took the Snapper out for a spin to keep up with the Joneses. I was hoping to wait until I treated it to a tuneup and a new blade, but such is life. Considering the deferred maintenance, the mower performed well. Never had any hangups, other than my getting used to the machine.
Two things I noticed:
1. With the engine throttled up, it tends to hop a bit when I put it in gear. Can I adjust the drive discs to make that go away, or is it common to this type of transmission? If it's common, I guess I'll just have to keep the throttle down when putting it into gear or when I'm switching between 1 & reverse.
2. Cutting with the deck set to 5 (highest cut setting) was a little too long, but when I moved it to 4 it seemed waaay too short. Again, any adjustment I can do? I'm not sure if the mower is entirely to blame on this point, as the previous owner of my house never rolled the lawn so it's lumpier than an old mattress. There are all sorts of weird little divots & lumps in the lawn that showed up when I mowed.
On the bright side, when I came back from Lowe's with a cheapo $28 trimmer, my wife gave me a very concerned look and asked why I didn't get a nice trimmer that I would like. Apparantly, since I got a such a good deal on a used mower, I now have a budget to get a nice string trimmer! I think I'll start another thread and get some advice on that front.