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Echo CHAIN SAW Instruction Manual

Other manuals for CHAIN SAW: Safety Manual, Safety Manual, Safety Manual

Summary of CHAIN SAW

  • Page 1

    Misuse may result in serious or fatal injuries. You must read, understand, and follow all of these safety instructions and the instructions in your chain saw instruction manual before operating a chainsaw. Warning ! Danger ! Chain saw safety manual danger! Chainsaw kickback can cause serious or fata...

  • Page 2: Danger!

    2 circle/slash symbol this symbol means the specific action shown is prohibited. Ignoring these prohibitions can result in serious or fatal injury. Safety alert symbol the safety alert symbol is used to alert you to potential personal injury hazards. Obey all safety messages that follow this symbol ...

  • Page 3: Important Safety Warnings

    3 important safety warnings warning! Never operate a chain saw using a one-handed grip. Always use a secure, two-handed grip! Warning! Always control saw firmly with 2 hands to prevent loss of control and kick back if saw begins skating. Warning! Always use proper positioning! Keep your body out of ...

  • Page 4: Important Safety Warnings

    4 warning! Keep hands and arms away from moving chain. Do not reach near a moving chain to grab or remove the material that you are cutting. Warning! Do not cut overhead. The cut material or chain saw can fall on you, causing serious injury. Warning! Do not use a chain saw with a loose chain. A loos...

  • Page 5

    5 key chain saw terms – see glossary at back for additional terms. Kick guard ® device - the echo brand name for its anti-kickback bar tip guard. Pinch - specifically the closing-in of the wood which pinches and stops the chain along the top rails of the guide bar during a cut. This can result in th...

  • Page 6: Introduction

    6 introduction congratulations on taking the right steps to learn basic chain saw safety. Over the years, echo has developed and improved technology to increase the safety of chain saw use. However, chain saws are powerful cutting tools intended to quickly cut trees and branches and to get the job d...

  • Page 7: Forces You Must Control

    7 forces you must control this section explains the forces which must be controlled to avoid injury when operating either a gas or electric-powered chain saw. Always remem- ber that your best defenses are to exercise caution and use the chain saw properly, and to be prepared to react to these forces...

  • Page 8: Forces You Must Control

    8 force of gravity & “follow through” – gravity is always present and you must be prepared for it when you are operating a chain saw. During the cutting operation, the weight of the chain saw is supported by the material being cut. When the saw completes the cut, the saw is no longer supported, and ...

  • Page 9: Kick Guard

    9 kick guard ® installation danger! Chain saw kickback is an extremely dangerous reaction. Kickback can cause serious, or fatal injuries! Kick guard ® kick guard ® prevents rotational kickback! Kick guard ® simple to install! See installation procedure in your chain saw instruction manual. Use the k...

  • Page 10

    10 conditions which may require removal of kick guard ® in any circumstance, it is your responsibility to learn how to minimize the risk of kickback if you are using the saw without the kick guard in place. Even if you have prior experience with safe chain saw operation, or are trained in the preven...

  • Page 11: Device

    11 operating saw with the kick guard ® device warning! Study your safety and instruction manuals, and be sure you understand how to keep control of the chain saw either with or without the kick guard ® device. Warning! The kick guard ® device prevents rotational kickback when properly installed, but...

  • Page 12: Device

    12 operating saw without the kick guard ® device danger! If you remove the kick guard, be aware of the increased risk of kickback due to the bar nose not being protected. Prevent kickback yourself. Don’t let the bar tip contact anything! Study the following illustrations related to kickback, and nev...

  • Page 13: Device

    13 warning! Hold the saw firmly with both hands. Make sure your left thumb is always on the underside of the front handle. Never over the top! Keep your left arm straight with the elbow locked to prepare for any sudden or unexpected reaction of the chain saw, and to maintain better control. Warning!...

  • Page 14

    14 additional safety devices designed to reduce the risk of injury from kickback your echo chain saw and its operator’s manual have been certified to meet the requirements of voluntary standard b175.1 of the american national standards institute (ansi). B175.1 sets forth the minimum safety requireme...

  • Page 15

    15 • improper assembly of the chain brake to the chain saw may render the brake inoperable. • wear and fatigue of the activating brake band or spring, and/or wear of the brake/clutch drum and pivot points may lengthen the brake’s stopping time or render the chain brake inoperable. Echo chain brakes ...

  • Page 16

    16 reduced-kickback guide bar: in general, guide bars that meet this requirement, have small or reduced- radius noses. All echo guide bars with reduced nose radius have been machined to accept a bar tip guard. (some large radius bars may not accept a tip guard.) reduced-kickback guide bar and kick g...

  • Page 17: Operator Safety

    17 operator safety physical condition – chain saw work and the associated clearing of branches and logs is a strenuous activity. You should be in good physical and mental health in order to handle your chain saw safely. Errors in judgment can be serious or fatal. If you have any physical condition w...

  • Page 18: Operator Safety

    18 precautions in hot, humid weather - heavy logger’s clothing can cause overheating and increase the risk of operator fatigue. Heat stroke is possible. Under these adverse conditions, you must judge whether wearing heavy protective clothing, or lighter but less protective items, bears the least ris...

  • Page 19

    19 key safety and risk prevention rules danger! Kickback may occur when the nose or tip of the guide bar touches an object, or when the wood closes in and pinches the saw chain in the cut. Tip contact in some cases may cause a lightning-fast reverse reaction, kicking the guide bar up and back toward...

  • Page 20

    20 danger! Carbon monoxide is a poisonous odorless gas produced by gasoline engines. Operate the chain saw only in well-ventilated areas. Do not run chain saw inside, in garages or sheds, or in confined areas with the possibility of poor ventilation- such as drainage ditches, low & confined creek be...

  • Page 21

    21 general safety instructions all chain saw service, other than the items listed in the operator’s manual maintenance instruction, is to be performed only by competent chain saw service personnel. (for example, if improper tools are used to remove the flywheel, or if an improper tool is used to hol...

  • Page 22

    22 warning! Do not walk around with a moving chain, especially in areas of poor terrain or around objects or debris that can cause tripping. Always be sure of your footing when repositioning your self for the next cut. Warning! If you sense a trip or fall, throw the saw away from you so that you do ...

  • Page 23: Rules For Safe Fueling

    23 rules for safe fueling warning! The engine exhaust from this product contains chemicals known to the state of california to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. Warning! Gasoline and gasoline vapors contain chemicals known to the state of california to cause cancer, birth defe...

  • Page 24: Safe Wood Cutting Practices

    24 safe wood cutting practices operating a chain saw safely requires that the chain saw be in proper working order, with the chain properly tensioned. It also requires sound judgment, knowledge of proper cutting methods, and having a plan for every cut you make. Warning! Do not let any person use yo...

  • Page 25

    25 wind bends trees. Gravity bends logs that are not flat on the ground. A log weakened by a cut over 1/3 the log diameter is like two logs hinged together. The cut may either close or open wider, depending on how the log is positioned. In bucking logs, always make the weakening cut from the directi...

  • Page 26

    26 pruning shade trees and cutting saplings whippy growth, such as saplings and tree branches, may resist being cut. Be prepared for the saw chain to skate along the surface and the material to vibrate from side to side. This can result in a sharp sudden pull on the saw or can cause branches to snap...

  • Page 27: Felling Trees

    27 please note that felling a tree is more complicated than often expected. Take time to plan cuts, fall path and escape route before felling the tree. Electric powered units may not be suitable for felling some trees. Consider such factors as tree size and location, circuit breaker capacity, and we...

  • Page 28: Felling Trees

    28 if the back cut is too low, or the “hinge” is cut through, the tree will not be under control of the “hinge” and may fall in any direction. Be ready to leave the chain saw and get away fast, away from the tree’s falling direction! When the tree does not lean in the desired felling direction, inse...

  • Page 29: Limbing And Bucking

    29 warning! Do not walk on the trunk or in a log pile, or cut while standing on it. Warning! Take extra care when walking around a log pile, especially if logs are debarked or wet and slippery. Determine how the log or limb is tensioned. Apply the methods discussed to avoid entrapment of the saw. If...

  • Page 30: Limbing And Bucking

    30 warning! Be alert for spring poles and stay clear of them during cutting. A spring pole can spring back suddenly when cut, or when the wood holding it down is cut away. A spring pole can strike you or deflect the moving saw chain into your body. Do not cut a tree in order to drop a tree that has ...

  • Page 31: Felling Very Large Trees

    31 felling very large trees pertains to gasoline-powered saws only. Small gas powered saws and electric powered saws should not be used to fell very large trees. Only those that have been trained to cut very large trees should attempt these techniques. Warning! Call a professional tree-felling servi...

  • Page 32: Bow Saw Warning

    32 bow saw warning warning! Echo does not recommend the use of bow saws. If you choose to attach a bow guide to an echo chain saw, and thus create a bow saw, you do so at your own risk. A bow guide attachment increases the risk of severe kickback and serious injury. Do not use a bow guide unless you...

  • Page 33: Electric Chain Saw Safety

    33 the electric chain saw unit is made of a molded dielectric material that reduces the risk of electric shock to the operator. Broken or cracked housings or guards may not protect you. Do not operate the unit if housings or guards are damaged. Use only identical echo replacement parts when service ...

  • Page 34: Glossary Of Chain Saw Terms

    34 glossary of chain saw terms bow guide - a guide bar (see definition below) with a large open center used by some professional pulpwood loggers. Danger! Echo warns against the use of a bow guide on your echo chain saw. A bow guide increases the risk of severe kickback and serious injury. Do not us...

  • Page 35

    35 front hand guard - this required device is intended to reduce the operator’s risk of injury from projecting branches and saw-chain contact with the left hand in the event the operator loses his grip from the upper part of the handle. Do not operate a chain saw with a loose or broken hand guard. G...

  • Page 36: Echo, Incorporated

    Echo, incorporated 400 oakwood road lake zurich, il 60047 phone: (847) 540-8400 www.Echo-usa.Com.