Kickback - Makita EA3200S Operator's Manual

In order to keep control of your saw, always maintain
a fi rm f oothold. N ever w ork o n a l adder, i n a t ree o r o n
any o ther i nsecure s upport. N ever u se t he s aw a bove
shoulder h eight ( fig. 9 ).
Position t he c hain s aw i n s uch a w ay t hat y our b ody i s
clear of the cutting attachment whenever the engine is
running ( fig. 1 0).
Don't put pressure on the saw when reaching the end
of a c ut. T he p ressure m ay c ause t he b ar a nd r otating
chain to pop out of the cut or kerf, go out of control and
strike t he o perator o r s ome o ther o bject. I f t he r otating
chain strikes some other object a reactive force (see
pages 11 to 13) may cause the chain to strike the op-­
erator.
Reactive f orces d uring t he c ut, i ncluding k ickback
WARNING!
Reactive forces, that may occur during any cut are
kickback, pushback and pull-­in. Reactive forces
can b e d angerous! I n a ny c hain s aw, t he p owerful
force u sed t o c ut w ood c an b e r eversed ( and w ork
against the operator).
If t he r otating c hain i s s uddenly s topped b y c ontact
with a ny s olid o bject l ike a l og o r b ranch o r i s p inched,
the reactive forces instantly occur. These reactive
forces may result in loss of control which may, in
turn, c ause s erious o r f atal i njury. A n u nderstanding
of the causes of these reactive forces may help you
avoid loss of control.
The most common reactive forces are
-­ k ickback,
-­ p ushback,
-­ p ull-­in.
9
10

Kickback:

Kickback occurs when the upper quadrant of the bar
nose c ontacts a s olid o bject i n t he w ood o r i s p inched
(fig. 1 1). T he r eaction o f t he c utting f orce o f t he c hain
causes a rotational force of the chain saw in the direc
tion opposite to the chain movement, mainly in the plane
of t he b ar. T his m ay fl ing t he b ar i n a n u ncontrolled a rc
towards the operator.
This reaction can occur in a fraction of a second and
under some circumstances, cause the guide bar and
chain to strike the operator with enough force to cause
severe o r f atal i njury. I t m ay a lso o ccur d uring l imbing. I t
also o ccurs w hen t he n ose o f t he g uide b ar i s p inched
unexpectedly, unintentionally contacts solid material
in the wood (fig.12) or is incorrectly used to begin a
plunge o r b oring c ut.
The g reater t he f orce o f t he k ickback r eaction, t he m ore
difficult i t b ecomes f or t he o perator t o c ontrol t he s aw.
Many factors influence the occurence and force of
11
12
11