Manual
8
GENERAL SAFETY RULES
• With a basic understanding of kickback, you can reduce or eliminate the element of
surprise. Sudden surprise contributes to accidents.
• Keep proper footing and balance at all times.
• Do not cut above shoulder height or overreach when cutting.
• Follow the sharpening and maintenance instructions for the saw chain.
• Push and Pull - This reaction force is always opposite to the direction the chain is
moving where wood contact is made. Thus, the operator must be ready to control
the PULL when cutting on the bottom edge of the bar, and PUSH when cutting
along the top edge.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHAIN SAW SAFETY DEVICES
LOW KICKBACK SAW CHAIN
The rakers (depth gauges) ahead of each cutter can minimize the force of a kickback
reaction by preventing the cutters from digging in too deeply at the kickback zone. Only
use replacement chain that is equivalent to original chain or has been certied as low
kickback chain per ANSI B175.1. Low kickback/skip tooth saw chain is a chain that has
met the kickback performance requirements of ANSI B175.1 - 1991. (American National
Standard for Power Tools - Gasoline-Powered Chain Saws-Safety Requirements) when
tested on the representative sample of chain saws below 3.8 c.i.d. specied in ANSI
B175.1 - 1991. As saw chains are sharpened during their useful life, they lose some of
the low kickback qualities and extra caution should be used.