Who's been saved by your chain brake?

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jeff_t

Minister of Fire
Sep 14, 2008
4,205
SE MI
Was thinking about this while I was cutting today. The only time I've ever had the brake on unintentionally was when the saw was just getting through a 4' log that was a couple of inches off the ground (thanks to the loader and grapple ;-) ), and the big round bumped the lever as I was pulling out of the cut and the round settled into the dirt. I've never experienced any kind of kickback. I like to think it's because I'm always watching the tip of the bar, and always aware of what's going on, but I suppose it will happen. I'm constantly moving stuff so there is a clear area to work. The best way to control kickback is to avoid it.
 
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When I was 16 I was cutting down a willow and was in the tree taking down branches due to its location Dad yelled lookout and a large branch blew down on me and hit my back. I had the presence to pop the brake and right after my head got thrown into the side of the bar SMACK all I did was shake for a long while. Thats when I learned that willows blow apart! Dad felt awful and I was scared senseless.

Pete
 
Back in the 80's I was working on a pipeline slash job. I was cutting logs sticking out of the burn pile when the saw kicked back on me. The saw chain stopped about a 1/4" from my nose, so the handle on the chain brake may have helped in stopping the trajectory of the bar but since the chain didn't contact flesh, the brake technically didn't save me from a cut.
 
So far I've never had a need for it. Sure is nice to have though. It is sort of like the tire pump I take on my bike rides. I hope I never have to use it but would hate to be without it just in case. However, I have had to use it a few times. Even broke a couple of them on dogs heads... But that is another story.
 
Without having instant replay available, it seems to have happened once, about a year ago, cutting black locust in a big tangle of limbs. Best I could tell, the tip ran into something behind the limb I was cutting, or something dropped onto the tip.
Surprise! Chain stopped, still in cut. I'm obsessive about keeping all my pieces out of the "plane of the chain." Which likely would have helped avoid chain/face collision anyway. Whatever boosts my odds is a GOOD THING. (Even 35 cc saw could have been lethal.) Release brake, continue cutting.
Wish I'd seen what happened, for help avoiding going there again.

Separately, I was given an object lesson in "set brake when maneuvering saw in tangled brush." Only cost me a new pair of dungarees.
 
My 372 kicked last year and inertia set the chain brake off really quick. The bar/chain never got anywhere near my face. I always wear a helmet with a face guard.

I put a superficial nick in my chaps last year too while limbing.
 
Many years ago (30+) when I was a volunteer firefighter/EMT we had a guy who had the saw kick back and get him in the face. Obviously it can happen.

Ken
 
Mine's been tripped a couple times on the 026, & once on the 064, kickback while limbing each time in heavy brush. The brakes set quickly & with inertia in think, cause I don't remember my hand hitting the guard. It happens, helmet, chaps, run with the shield down, & STAY OUT OF THE PLANE as ctyank said, & no harm done. I will not run a saw that the brake doesn't operate properly on, period. A C
 
I've intentionally set the inertia brake via kickback during demos. Only had it set a couple times while cutting. Usually happens while cutting blow down or other nasty messes.
 
My brake has engaged as designed a few times when I was cutting, but it was never in a true kickback situation. Happened a couple times when I was bucking from the bottom and the log settled just a bit downward and opened the hinge from the bottom but pinched the top of the bar. The chain instantly stopped cutting and just grabbed the wood hard and the saw moved backwards at about a hundred miles an hour. It only moved back about 4-5 inches before the brake stopped it...if it hadn't the handle would have smacked me right in the leg. Its been my only experience with kickback-like behavior and its sobering to actually experience just how rapidly that thing can accelerate if that chain suddenly bites...there is no time to react at all, by the time your brain has registered that something isn't right, its already over with.

The brakes set quickly & with inertia in think, cause I don’t remember my hand hitting the guard.

Yup, thats exactly how its supposed to work. Rapid acceleration of the bady of the saw backwards will kick the brake on by inertia alone.
 
Never had mine activate . . . but I wouldn't run a saw without one.
 
mayhem said:
there is no time to react at all, by the time your brain has registered that something isn't right, its already over with.

Perfectly stated.
 
firefighterjake said:
Never had mine activate . . . but I wouldn't run a saw without one.

I haven't had mine activate either but I do have a pair of 1970 era big saws (Stihl 041 Farmboss and Homelite SuperXL) with 20" bars that I occasionally get out for the really big stuff. They make me nervous. I've considered trading up for something modern but for the rare times that I use them it's hard to justify the cost.

Then too it's neat to have a well operating 40 year old saw. They actually start easier than my modern Huskys.

Ken
 
I have on a tree shift and rolled me in to a somersault Brake worked!
 
Ten years ago I was cutting a 4" dead tree about a foot up when it broke off at ground level. As it fellover it popped the trunk up and the bar hit me in the face. The chain had been stopped by the brake thank God, but I still wound up with a series of lacerations and eight stitches.
Told everyone I was in a bar fight.
 
"You should see the other guy!"

"We got into an argument and he pulled a knife on me so I shot him."
 
Greg H said:
Ten years ago I was cutting a 4" dead tree about a foot up when it broke off at ground level. As it fellover it popped the trunk up and the bar hit me in the face. The chain had been stopped by the brake thank God, but I still wound up with a series of lacerations and eight stitches.
Told everyone I was in a bar fight.

When I got hit in the fore head with a pine branch a few years back and needed several stitches I told everyone I was in a bar fight . . . unfortunately everyone that knew me also knew I am not the type to get into a bar fight so I ended up having to tell how I was so stupid as to get hit in the forehead with a branch.

In fact, come to think of it . . . that seems to be what causes me the most injuries . . . getting smacked in the head by branches.
 
The old Homelite doesn't have a chain brake (it's about 35-40 years old) but I treat it with great respect even though it only has a 12 inch bar. It has an anti-kickback guard that attaches to the end of the bar. I only cut small stuff with it anyway.
 
fredarm said:
The old Homelite doesn't have a chain brake (it's about 35-40 years old) but I treat it with great respect even though it only has a 12 inch bar. It has an anti-kickback guard that attaches to the end of the bar. I only cut small stuff with it anyway.

Oh gosh, I had forgotten about that tip guard. I still have that old Homelite although it's not running.

Ken
 
When i bought my new Sthil last year, they had a model where the chain brake would engage whenever you removed your hand from the rear handle. I couldn't really see a need for it plus it added $100 to the cost, about a pound of extra weight and presumably more things to go wrong.
 
Catspaw said:
When i bought my new Sthil last year, they had a model where the chain brake would engage whenever you removed your hand from the rear handle.

I'm not sure what that would accomplish. In a kickback situation, your hand is still on the handle. If you release the rear handle, it saw idles anyway.... :confused:

I agree, too much complexity reduces reliability.

Ken
 
Seems like the only close calls from kickback and/or leg proximity to the blade is when limbing. The 359 is a managable wieght for limbing on short term basis, but that's a lot of saw to watch for inadvertent contact. That is what I picked up the MS211 for. Hopefully no more close calls.
 
fredarm said:
The old Homelite doesn't have a chain brake (it's about 35-40 years old) but I treat it with great respect even though it only has a 12 inch bar. It has an anti-kickback guard that attaches to the end of the bar. I only cut small stuff with it anyway.

I tossed one of those on a garbage pile back in '99.

I have tripped the brake a few times over the years. Not always a true kickback situation, but maybe just the position I was in made me hit the handle. I did "test" the chain brake on my 029 by accident once. I was running the saw near a stack of splits to check that the chain was throwing oil to confirm that the oiler was working OK. I touched the top of the tip of the bar and it was just as described above. In an instant, or even faster I was holding a saw with a locked brake. It took me a few beets to figure out what happened. On contact the tip of the saw shot up and at me at lightning speed. This set the brake and I was able to keep the saw down and out of my face. Once I realized what had happened it scared the bejeezuss out of me. I was also pretty embarrassed that I had been stupid enough to let something like that happen on the first place. I'd say I was saved by the chain brake.
 
For those who have had the brake automatically engage, were you using safety chain or non-safety chain?

Ken
 
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