Hello lidumazie

usage of the FR instruction (Enable Timer) is indeed optional and rarely used as far as I'm concerned.

Use<F1> (context sensitive help) on the FR and you'll get the following info:
When the RLO transitions from "0" to "1", FR <timer> clears the edge-detecting flag that is used for starting the addressed timer.
A change in the RLO bit from 0 to 1 in front of an enable instruction (FR) enables a timer.
Timer enable is not required to start a timer, nor is it required for normal timer instruction.
An enable is used only to re-trigger a running timer, that is, to restart a timer.
The restarting is possible only when the start instruction continues to be processed with RLO = 1.

I hope this helps