Patent ID: 7987657

Claim:
A riding lawn mower comprising: a vehicle body having rear wheels and front wheels attached thereto; a cutter deck having an open lower surface, the cutter deck being elevatably disposed in a central lower section of the vehicle body; cutter blades accommodated inside the cutter deck; and a transmission section for transmitting power of a power source to the cutter blades, the section being disposed in proximity to an upper surface of the cutter deck, wherein a pair of left and right covers for enclosing a space below the vehicle body are provided separately from the cutter deck, attached to the vehicle body and extending across substantially the entire range between the front and rear wheels, the covers formed from a substantially rigid material, wherein each of the covers respectively comprises a lower portion for covering a side part of the cutter deck, an intermediate step portion comprising a substantially horizontal flat surface, and an upper portion for covering a side part of the transmission section, the upper portion, the intermediate step portion and the lower portion integrally formed as a unitary member, and wherein the covers are mounted on the vehicle body and have a plurality of small holes formed therein for allowing the cutter deck inside the covers to be viewed from the outside across a range facing the side part of the cutter deck.