Kickback

That was a serious

kickback

accident, the worst thing that can happen to you if you are working with a chainsaw since people started using chainsaws in the 1940s and 1950s, thousands of people have been injured or killed in accidents like this, for sure that there are many chainsaws. Nowadays it is safer, but the

kickback

is still just as dangerous. People are still getting hurt and people are still dying. What can we do about it? Well, let's start by taking a look at what exactly kickback is and how it works. There's really nothing very mysterious or terribly complicated.

In this regard, it is a matter of force and momentum in a chainsaw, the force of the motor acts both on the saw in one direction and on the chain and in the other, but the chain is lighter and you hold on to the body of the saw to let the sauce stay still and the chain spin now let me show you something a little safer when we start the engine the force acts on both the body and the chuck but the chuck is lighter and I'm holding the body so the chuck rotates and the body stays still, but look what happens if we suddenly stop the moving part, all that force has to go somewhere for the other part to start rotating and you will notice that it goes. the other way around, it's a transfer of momentum, equal force in the opposite direction, that's exactly what happens in a chainsaw kickback, normally the chain spins, but when something grabs a chain and stops it when it's running under power, that same Momentum transfer takes place when the chain is forced to stop the saw has to move in the opposite direction now when that happens there are only two variables we have to worry about the amount of force and the direction of movement the amount of force in kickback can be very small if the chain is not forced to stop suddenly or completely, the saw may simply bend a little or bounce in the cut, this happens all the time while cutting, if the chain is tightened or slowed down a lot , although the backlash is greater. severe and the saw might bounce out of the cut, it happens once or twice a day but it's still pretty easy to deal with if you hold the saw correctly, but that's when you're cutting at full power and something happens that hits the saw. chain to a sudden stop where all the energy in a system goes into kickback and that's when the consequences can be really bad.

That's where the second variable direction comes in if you stop the chain at the top of the bar where it runs forward. the saw goes the opposite way back if you stop the chain at the bottom of the bar where it runs towards you the saw moves forward and here at the tip of the bar the chain runs at an angle back and forth down at the At the same time, if you stop here, the saw will go up and back, so that's all there is to it. Kickback occurs when the chain is forced to stop and all that energy has to go somewhere and where it goes is straight back to the saw. and back to whoever is standing in the wrong place when you get there, now the next question is what can stop the saw so suddenly that it causes kickback, well there are a couple of different situations, the tip of the bar sinks and there are pinches on the bar, usually the most serious is the first.

What happens is that the cutters, those little cutting links of the chain, rotate around the tip of the bar, meaning they point away from the bar at an angle. If you let that part of the bar touch solid wood - a branch you're trying to cut behind, for example - then the cutter can bite into it at an angle and go too deep - sometimes, in fact, going so deep that it gets stuck. when it gets stuck it stops the chain in a fraction of an instant and when the chain slams to a stop we know what happens: momentum transfer, kickback, what makes the tip of the bar sink so far, are those both variables in the force and direction of the backlash?

I wrote his The worst thing is that when the chain sinks at the tip, the force is usually high and that's bad, and the direction, of course, is up and back, and that's very bad if that's where you're standing . The second way the chain can be forced to stop is if the wood you are cutting pinches it, if you try to cut a log from below in one sweep for example, you will see what happens when the log begins to break, the two ends swing down, the cut opens wider at the bottom and closes. up at the top it doesn't close at the top, that's a problem as it closes, all the weight of the two halves of the log push against each other and you can squeeze the chain so hard that it stops and then a On the right, the saw moves backwards. outside of the cut the same thing happens all the time, actually when you are cutting spring pole branches they tend to be under tension as they are forced to bend, when you have cut halfway they start to break and start pinching like this so that backlash occurs, what we want to know is what we can do about it.

There are many things you can do to avoid backlash and avoid being heard if it happens, many different things and everything you have to do. they are all all the time let's start with the easy part the saw make sure you have an up to date saw with all the safety features look at the low profile bar remember the danger zone at the tip of the bar is less curved and less dangerous zone at this bar, this chain makes it harder for the cutter to dig and don't forget the break, the saw kicks back, the break should break and you could stop the chain before it hits you, so that's how you keep the salt. the air filter is clean and the motor is properly tuned, the saw will have enough power to keep the chain running to pull the cutters through the wood instead of letting them get stuck, then there is tension on the chain, you You need to make sure there is no slack because slack can take up space for the chain to go straight where you want it to curve around the tip of the bar, if it goes too straight it gets stuck in the wood.

The same goes for sharpening, cutters are made to cut and if you sharpen them correctly they tend to get sharp. cut to get out of trouble instead of getting stuck, that's why you should also start each cut at full power and continue like that until you finish and then there is the depth gauge, as you can deduce from the name, it measures the depth and regulates how. deep into the wood the cutters can bite if you don't file them, as the cutters we have come back to, the saw won't cut if you file them too much, they will try to cut too much to bite off more than they can.

It can chew so to speak and that can cause a chain to get stuck, that's where this comes in on the depth measuring tool, make sure you do it right every time, okay you've done all that and now you have a saw that is safe . like chainsaws do, but you're not out of the woods yet, especially if you go into the woods and start cutting how you stand, how you hold a saw, and how you cut, those are the things that will get you out of the woods safely first. This is how you hold the saw with both hands, keep your thumb under the front handle that way, if the saw kicks back, they don't fly out of your hand, at least they will have a fighting chance to maintain control, especially if you do this, you see the left arm, you try to keep it straight all the time with the elbow locked, you see if you have your thumb under the handle and the arm is straight when the saw comes back, this is what happens, the saw swings up and it moves away you moves away from you if you are standing in the correct position like this just to the left left foot forward at an angle to the world when the saw reverses it will swing clearly oh and remember those two kickback situations letting the tip bar touch solid wood cut logs and branches from below in one sweep do not do that keep control of the bar cover do not let it touch anything behind what you are cutting be careful with branches and small trees such as cutting logs from branches under tension, you know how to do it right in two stages, first cut one side and finish it on the other, so let's finish and go over this one more time.

Kickback occurs when something forces the chain to stop when it is running with power, the energy is transferred back to the saw and the saw kicks back in the opposite direction. The worst situation is when the tip of the bar touches solid wood and one of the cutters sinks too deep into the wood, that's when the saw moves up and back and that's when people get hurt worse other times, the Kickback can occur if the bar and chain become caught when cutting a log from under a branch under tension. The way to ensure that you don't get hurt in a kickback is to use a wide range of measures. get an updated saw with safety features like a low profile bar, proper chain and brake, make sure the saw is tuned and working properly, sharpen the cutters and set the depth gauges exactly to the correct specifications and tighten the chain so that there is no loosening of the holus in your hands every time the engine is running, place your thumb under the front handle and keep your left arm straight with the elbow locked at a slight angle to the work, not right behind the saw, start cutting at full power, control the tip of the bar and make sure the top corner never touches solid wood cut logs or branches under tension in two stages to avoid pinching now there is one last thing you can do to protect yourself A last line of defense write down your PPE your personal protective equipment chainsaw boots chainsaw pants gloves and helmet, plus, of course, your goggles, face shield and hearing protection.

We've looked at kickback, what causes it, and how to prevent it, so now it's up to you to use what you know to protect yourself every time, every time.