English---10
115391326 Rev. 3 1/31/11
GENERAL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
Vibration damping system
Your machine is equipped with a vibration
damping system that is designed to reduce
vibration and make operation easier.
The machine’s vibration damping system
reduces the transfer of vibration between
the engine unit/cutting equipment and the
machine’s handle unit. The body of the
chain saw, including the cutting equipment,
is insulated from the handles by vibration
damping units.
Cutting hardwoods (most broadleaf trees)
creates more vibration than cutting soft-
woods (most conifers). Cutting with cutting
equipment that is blunt or faulty (wrong
type or badly sharpened) will increase the
vibration level.
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To release the chain brake pull the front hand
guard backwards, towards the front handle.
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Kickback can be very sudden and violent.
Most kickbacks are minor and do not al-
ways activate the chain brake. If this hap-
pens you should hold the chain saw firmly
and not let go.
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The way the chain brake is activated, ei-
ther manually or automatically by the iner-
tia release mechanism, depends on the
force of the kickback and the position of the
chain saw in relation to the object that the
kickback zone of the bar strikes.
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If you get a violent kickback while the kick-
back zone of the bar is farthest away from
you the chain brake is designed to be acti-
vated by the inertia in the kickback direction.
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If the kickback is less violent or the kickback
zone of the bar is closer to you the chain
brake is designed to be activated manually
by the movement of your left hand.
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In the felling position the left hand is in a
position that makes manual activation of
the chain brake impossible. With this type
of grip, that is when the left hand is placed
so that it cannot affect the movement of the
front hand guard, the chain brake can only
be activated by the inertia action.
Will my hand always activate the
chain brake during a kickback?
No. It takes a certain force to move the
hand guard forward. If your hand only light-
ly touches the front guard or slips over it,
the force may not be enough to trigger the
chain brake. You should also maintain a
firm grip of the chain saw handles while
working. If you do and experience a kick-
back, your hand may never leave the front
handle and will not activate the chain
brake, or the chain brake will only activate
after the saw has swung around a consid-
erable distance. In such instances, the
chain brake might not have enough time to
stop the saw chain before it touches you.
There are also certain positions in which
your hand cannot reach the front hand
guard to activate the chain brake; for exam-
ple, when the saw chain is held in felling
position.
Will my inertia activated chain
brake always activate during kick-
back in the event of a kickback?
No. First your brake must be in working or-
der. Testing the brake is simple, see in-
structions under the heading Checking,
maintaining and servicing chain saw safety
equipment. We recommend you do before
you begin each work session. Second the
kickback must be strong enough to activate
the chain brake. If the chain brake is too
sensitive it would activate all the time which
would be a nuisance.
Will my chain brake always protect
me from injury in the event of a
kickback?
No. First, the chain brake must be in work-
ing order to provide the intended protection.
Second, it must be activated during the
kickback as described above to stop the
saw chain. Third, the chain brake may be
activated but if the bar is too close to you
the brake might not have enough time to
slow down and stop the chain before the
chain saw hits you.
Only you and proper working technique
can eliminate kickback and its danger.
Throttle lock--out
The throttle lockout is designed to prevent
accidental operation of the throttle control.
When you press the lock (A) (i.e. when you
grasp the handle) it releases the throttle
control (B). When you release the handle
the throttle control and the throttle lockout
both move back to their original positions.
This arrangement means that the throttle
control is automatically locked at the idle
setting.
(5)
Chain catcher
The chain catcher is designed to catch the
chain if it snaps or jumps off. This should
not happen if the chain is properly ten-
sioned (see instructions under the heading
Assembly) and if the bar and chain are
properly serviced and maintained (see in-
structions under the heading General work-
ing instructions).
Right hand guard
Apart from protecting your hand if the chain
jumps or snaps, the right hand guard stops
branches and twigs from interfering with
your grip on the rear handle.
