# Kickback



## StIhL MaGnUm (Jan 17, 2003)

Well first off I'm glad to see the new forum did get added to the site I would like to thank you for that.

Secondly unforunately I do have a very close call yesterday around 3:30 in the afternoon I had a friend come over because he wanted to cut up some corwood for his house,and of course he did'nt bring his own saw so I let him use my 064AV with the 32 incher on there,which I told him to be careful not to contact the tip with any of the logs,of course he told me he is'nt stupid and knows better like alot of people say,so off he went he was out there cutting for a good 45 minutes while I was doing a little maintainance in the shop to the skidder for today,and the next thing I hear is him "Oh Sh!t" and I hear the saw hit the ground and start idling,so I run out there expecting to find a mess,but lucky for him the saw did'nt cut him it is a good thing however that he had a helmet system on because that saw came up and bit into the brim of the helmet a good inch before he could throw the saw down.He had gotten tired of holding the saw with a tight grip and almost paid the price.Before he even started I asked him if he wanted a shorter bar and he said no because he did'nt want to bend over the whole time.I'll try and get some pics of the helmet asap.

This just goes to show for you people who don't believe in using/wearing the appropriate gear ,if he did'nt have that helmet on it's guranteed he would have been getting some stitches or maybe even something worse.

Later Rob..


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## Kevin (Jan 17, 2003)

Did the brake activate?
Was he holding the saw properly ?


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## StIhL MaGnUm (Jan 17, 2003)

Kevin yes the brake did activate it was from the impact that it gouged the hemet,and to tell you the truth I did'nt see the whole thing happen so I can't say if he was or was'nt holding the saw properly but I would have to say no since the way it hit the helmet was almost in line with going inbetween his eyes.

Later Rob..


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## martrix (May 3, 2007)

.....wow, scary stuff. Almost makes me want to stop using chainsaws.
Did you ever take some pics of the damaged helmet?


Here is what might have happened if he wasn't wearing the helmet.


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## clearance (May 3, 2007)

Kevin said:


> Did the brake activate?
> Was he holding the saw properly ?



Said it here many times, stand to the side. This is most important of all, stand to the side. You can hold it as tight as you want, you can't stop a 395 at full throttle coming back at you, don't care who you are. Chain brakes are a last resort, don't ever count on them, use your head, stand to the side.


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## SawTroll (May 10, 2007)

StIhL MaGnUm said:


> Kevin yes the brake did activate it was from the impact that it gouged the hemet,and to tell you the truth I did'nt see the whole thing happen so I can't say if he was or was'nt holding the saw properly but I would have to say no since the way it hit the helmet was almost in line with going inbetween his eyes.
> 
> Later Rob..



Did he continue to cut after that incident, or was he scared off?


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## Sprig (May 10, 2007)

SawTroll said:


> Did he continue to cut after that incident, or was he scared off?



We may never know Troll as the thread is over 4 years old, one might surmise though that the guy had his saw-runnin' privileges revoked for a while.

Clearance, yup! +1 I reiterate Stand to the Side!~ Stay outta the KB zone!~
Not so funny thing is that I see people using smaller saws like they are invincible, I guess figuring that you can control a small saw's kb, drives me bananas that anyone can have so little regard or respect for fast moving, sharp machinery. That aside, what if buddy above in the first post _had_ been using a short bar? *shudder* 
Chainsaw cuts and mishaps are lessons best learned vicariously so listen up all you weekend warriors, do not take saws forgranted! Live and learn/learn to live, PPE and common sense are good companions!


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## Woodie (May 10, 2007)

clearance said:


> Said it here many times, stand to the side. This is most important of all, stand to the side. You can hold it as tight as you want, you can't stop a 395 at full throttle coming back at you, don't care who you are. Chain brakes are a last resort, don't ever count on them, use your head, stand to the side.



I was talking to a Husky sales rep once, we got into a discussion of saw technique. He said he was an instructor in some sort of chainsaw class offered by the company.

He picked up a saw to demonstrate something, stood directly behind his bar. Directly.

I asked him what he was doing...why was he standing there. "This is where you're supposed to stand." 

"Okay, then what happens when you get a kickback, and that nice shiny bar gets buried in your head?"

"Well, otherwise you will get tired."

I thanked him for his time and walked away.


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