• Never start the unit with the clutch
housing removed.
The clutch can fly
off a nd cause serious injury.
• Keep t he handles driy, clean, and free
ofoil o rfuel mixture.
• Keep f uel and oil c aps, screws, and
fasteners
securely
tightened.
• Have a llmaintenance
and service not
explained
inthis manual performed
by
aSears Service Center.
OPERATE
YOUR
P RUNER
SAFELY
• Do not operate a pruner with one
hand.
Serious injury to the operator,
helpers, bystanders
or any combina-
tion of these persons may result
from one-handed
operation.
A prun-
er is intended for two-handed
use.
• Operate the pruner only in a well-ven-
tilated outdoor area.
• Do not operate pruner from a ladder
or in a tree.
• Do not use a pruner to cut down trees
or any portion of the tree trunk.
• Only use for pruning limbs or
branches overhead not greater than 4
inches in diameter.
• Never stand under the limb you are
pruning.
Always position yourself out
of the path of falling debris.
• Do not cut small brush and saplings
with the pruner. Slender matter may
catch in the chain and be whipped to-
ward you, pulling you off balance.
• Make sure the chain will not make
contact with any object while starting
the engine. Never try to start the unit
when the guide bar is in a cut.
• Do not put pressure on the pruner at
the end of the cut. Applying pressure
can cause you to lose control when
the cut is completed.
• Do not run the unit at high speed
when not pruning.
• If you strike or become entangled with
a foreign object, stop the engine im-
mediately and check for damage.
Have any damage repaired by a
Sears Service Center before attempt-
ing further operations.
• Do not operate a pruner that is dam-
aged, improperly adjusted, or not
completely and securely assembled.
Always replace bar and chain immedi-
ately if it becomes damaged, broken
or is otherwise removed.
• Always stop the unit when work is
delayed or when walking from one
cutting location to another. Stop the
engine before setting the unit down.
• Use only in daylight or good artificial
light.
• Use only for jobs explained in this
manual (or manuals for optional at-
tachments).
KICKBACK
,_WARNING:
Avoid kickback
which can result in serious
injury.
Kickback
is the backward,
upward or
sudden forward motion of the guide
bar occurring when the chain near the
upper tip of the guide bar contacts
any
object such as a log or branch, or
when the wood closes in and pinches
the chain in the cut. Contacting
a for-
eign object in the wood can also result
in loss of control.
• Rotational
Kickback
can occur when
the moving chain contacts an object
at the upper tip of the guide bar. This
contact can cause the chain to dig
into the object, which stops the chain
for an instant. The result is a lightning
fast, reverse reaction which kicks the
guide bar up and back toward the op-
erator.
• Pinch-Kickback
can occur when the
wood closes in and pinches the mov-
ing chain in the cut along the top of
the guide bar and the chain is sud-
denly stopped. This sudden stopping
of the chain results in a reversal of the
chain force used to cut wood and
causes the pruner to move in the op-
posite direction of the chain rotation.
The pruner is driven straight back to-
ward the operator.
• Pull-In can occur when the moving
chain contacts a foreign object in the
wood in the cut along the bottom of
the guide bar and the chain is sud-
denly stopped. This sudden stopping
pulls the pruner forward and away
from the operator and could easily
cause the operator to lose control of
the pruner.
REDUCE
THE CHANCE
OF
KICKBACK
• Recognize that kickback can happen=
With a basic understanding
of kick-
back, you can reduce the element of
surprise which contributes to acci-
dents.
• Never let the moving chain contact
any object at the tip of the guide bar.
• Keep the working area free from ob-
structions
such as other trees,
branches,
rocks, stumps, etc. Elimi-