Filament mower with filament advancing mechanism

A filament mower comprising a wheel supported housing having an upper deck, a prime mover mounted on said upper deck and including an output shaft extending through said upper deck into said housing, a string trimmer head fixed to said output shaft within said housing and including a spool carried on said output shaft for rotary movement relative thereto, a spool cover carried on said output shaft for common rotation therewith, one of said spool and said spool cover being movable axially of said output shaft between an upper position and a lower position, means for limiting movement outwardly of said output shaft of the other of said spool and said spool cover, means for biasing said spool and said spool cover away from each other and means on said spool and on said spool cover for interengaging said spool cover and said spool for common rotation when said one of said spool and said spool cover is in the upper position and in the lower position and for permitting limited relative rotation between said spool and said spool cover during movement of said one of said spool and said spool cover between said upper and lower positions, a lever having an end, means mounting said lever on said housing for pivotal movement between a depressed position engaged with said head so as to displace said one of said spool and said spool cover toward the other against the action of said biasing means, and a raised position out of contact with said head and permitting movement apart of said spool and said spool cover under the influence of said biasing means so as to locate said one of said spool and said spool cover in the upper position, said lever mounting means locating said end rearwardly of said head and in position for engagement by the foot of an operator so as to locate said lever in the depressed position, and means biasing said lever to the raised position.