Patent ID: 7404282

Claim:
A riding lawn mower having a front mower unit, comprising: a plurality of wheels; a vehicle body supported by said wheels; an engine supported by said vehicle body for driving at least one of said wheels; a lift link supported by said vehicle body; a mower unit adapted to be disposed forwardly of said vehicle body, having at least one cutting blade, and supported to be pivotable about an axis of a first pivot pin relative to said lift link between a generally horizontal position wherein said at least one cutting blade faces the ground, and a generally vertical position wherein said at least one cutting blade is oriented forward; an assisting force exerting means for exerting an assisting force for moving the mower unit to the generally vertical position; a support link connected to an end of said assisting force exerting means, wherein said assisting force exerting means and the support link are disposed between said lift link and said mower unit; a fixing member having a first position engaging the support link for permitting the assisting force from said assisting force exerting means to be transmitted to said mower unit by releasably engaging said support link with one of said lift link and said mower unit, and a second position disengaged from the support link for prohibiting the assisting force from said assisting force exerting means from being transmitted to said mower unit by disengaging said support link from said one of said lift link and said mower unit.