Ryobi RY40406 Operator's Manual page 33

 With a basic understanding of kickback, you
can reduce or eliminate the element of surprise.
Sudden surprise contributes to accidents.
 Do not overreach. Keep proper footing and bal-
ance at all times.
 Do not cut above chest height or overreach
when cutting. Do not let the nose of the guide
bar contact a log, branch, ground, or any other
obstruction while you are operating the unit.
 Follow the sharpening and maintenance instruc-
tions 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. See Figure 3.
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
certified as low kickback chain per ANSI B175.1.
Low kickback saw chain is chain that has met
the kickback performance requirements of ANSI
B175.1 – 2012 (American National Standard for
Power Tools – Gasoline-Powered Chain Saws-
Safety Requirements) when tested on the repre-
sentative sample of chain saws below 3.8 c.i.d.
specified in ANSI B175.1 - 2012.
As saw chains are sharpened during their useful
life, they lose some of the low kickback qualities
and extra caution should be used.
GUIDE BARS
Generally, guide bars with small radius tips have
somewhat lower kickback potentials.
When making a replacement, be sure to order one
of the RYOBI bars listed for the saw in this opera-
tor's manual.
CHAIN SAW SAFETY WARNINGS
PULL
PUSH
 Save these instructions. Refer to them fre-
quently and use them to instruct others who
may use this product. If you loan someone this
product, loan them these instructions also.
7 - English
ROTATIONAL
KICKBACK
Fig. 1
KICKBACK
DANGER ZONE
Fig. 2
Fig. 3