Abstract: A walk-behind, power lawn mower having a double action manual control reqing two distinct actions in order to start the cutting blade of the mower. The control includes a bracket mounted to one side of the mower handle bar, the bracket having a slot with an enlarged opening therein. A control handle connected to a brake-clutch mechanism is mounted with one end in the bracket slot and the other end pivotally received in the other side of the handle bar. A spring acting through the brake-clutch mechanism biases the control handle in a raised position with one end registered with the enlarged opening in the bracket. To start the mower cutting blade, the control handle must be rotated against the handle bar thus releasing the brake and engaging a clutch which controls the cutting blade. However, in order to rotate the control handle, it must first be moved in one direction away from the enlarged opening in the bracket. Then the control handle may be moved in another direction to release the cutting blade.

Abstract: In a power-driven riding lawn mower, a safety control is provided for auttically disengaging and stopping the cutting blade when the operator leaves the lawn mower or raises his feet while seated on the lawn mower. The control is operated through a foot bar engageable by the operator's feed to permit the cutting blade to rotate during a cutting operation but when the operator raises his feet from the foot bar or dismounts from the mower, the control will activate mechanisms for disengaging the drive and applying a positive brake to the cutting blade. While the control will permit the operator to manually disengage the drive and apply a brake to the cutting blade while the foot bar is depressed by the operator's feet, the control will not permit the operator to reengage the drive while the foot bar is depressed.

Abstract: An adjustable axle support system for a lawn mower for supporting the whe and blade housing at a preselectable elevation in accordance with a desired cutting height of the grass cutting blade which is rotatable in a horizontal plane within the blade housing of the mower. The system includes brackets fixed to the opposite ends of the front and rear sections of the blade housing with the axles received in vertical slots formed in the brackets. Axle bearings are slidable on the axles for receipt in enlarged openings formed along the slots in the brackets. The axle bearings are biased into the selected enlarged openings by coil compression springs received about the axles. Adjustment of the height of the blade housing and in turn the cutting blade is achieved simply by retracting the bearings along the axles against the bias of the springs and moving the axles along the slots in the brackets into the desired elevation and then placing the bearings into the appropriate enlarged openings along the bracket slots.

Abstract: A rotary lawn mower apparatus including a mower housing and an annular muing liner attachment mounted within the mower housing and extending above the rotating cutter blade. The mulching liner includes integrally formed guide vanes for directing the clippings inwardly toward the center of the mower housing where they pass downwardly through the plane of the rotating cutter blade to be finely mulched and propelled below the cutting plane onto the ground for maximum mulching efficiency.