Good to know, Thanks. My old mower automatically disengaged the blades when you stepped on the reverse pedal. Also I wasn't sure since the mower deck is angled slightly to keep the leading edge of the blades a touch lower than the trailing edge to help keep the tip speed up.
This is my first real tractor, and I don't want to mess things up by committing rookie mistakes. I have also learned that it is best to take the FEL off when mowing to avoid accidentally knocking over random items with the front end while watching the back.
I have thought about "accidentally" running over some of the trees, but she is excited about them. Seems rotten to spoil something that she enjoys. Plus about a third are Pecan trees. I am looking forward to those getting a little bigger. The flowering ones are the ones that would be in real danger.
I did hand her the trimmer after she finished with the shovel though. She made it about 30 minutes before she had to quit because her arms gave out. I told her she has wimpy girl arms and she was back out there the next day. That was the desired effect.
ahoglen: Yes, I was referring to the tractor direction, not the PTO direction. Not sure that it is possible to do that.
Another question:
If the gearbox has a bit much gear oil in it so that it seeps out of the overflow port when it's in use, will that hurt anything? Should I drain a bit out or just let it work itself out? I do spray it off after every mowing as the whole rig gets pretty dusty if it's dry out.