Patent ID: 7549278

Claim:
A trimmer system for a lawn mower, comprising: a base plate attached to a deck of the lawn mower; a trimmer shaft mounted on the base plate and extending from a pulley-receiving portion vertically downwardly to a trimmer-head-receiving portion; a trimmer head assembly including a trimmer shaft collar configured to be mounted on the trimmer-head-receiving portion of the trimmer shaft for rotation on a vertical axis during operation; and a power takeoff system including a drive pulley mounted on a shaft carried by and extending above the deck, a trimmer pulley mounted on the pulley-receiving portion of the trimmer shaft, and a belt located above the deck engaging the drive pulley and the trimmer pulley to transmit rotation of the drive pulley to the trimmer pulley; the base plate being attached to the deck with a fastener, the base plate defining slots for receiving the fastener and enabling the base plate to be slid along a range of travel comprising a fully stowed position and a fully extended position.