POLE PRUNER SAFETY MANUAL DANGER! Misuse may result in serious or fatal injuries. You must read, understand, and follow these safety instructions and the instructions in your Operator’s Manual before operating a Power Pruner. DANGER! Overhead pruning can result in serious injury or death. Wear head, eye, face and ear protection that meets ANSI standards to avoid injury from falling objects or prolonged noise exposure. Place blade cover on blade when transporting or storing unit.
CONTENTS SYMBOL MEANINGS AND WARNINGS ................................................................................... 3 DEFINITION OF TERMS .............................................................................................................. 4 SAFETY APPAREL ........................................................................................................................ 7 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS ..................................................................................................
SYMBOL MEANINGS AND WARNINGS Maintain a distance 15m (50 feet) from electrical lines and electrical sources to avoid electrocution or electrical shock. Wear sturdy, protective safety shoes or boots with nonskid soles. Maintain secure footing and balance. Read and understand Operator’s Manual to avoid injury. Wear head, eye, face and ear protection that meets ANSI standards to avoid injury from falling objects or prolonged noise exposure.
DEFINITION OF TERMS UNIT - Power head, handles, cutting assembly and pole. GASOLINE AND ELECTRIC POWERED TERMS CHOKE LEVER - The engine control attached to the carburetor that is used to enrich the fuel mixture for cold starting. Refer to Operator’s Manual for more details about correct position and use of the choke lever. GENERAL TERMS ANSI Z87.1 - The established standard for eye protection devices set forth by the American National Standards Institute.
DEFINITION OF TERMS CROWN CLEANING - The removal of dead, dying, diseased, crowded, weakly attached branches from the tree’s crown. HEARING PROTECTION DEVICES - These are ear-muff or plug-type devices worn to reduce exposure to harmful noises while permitting an operator to hear certain sounds. CROWN REDUCTION - The reduction of the top, sides, or individual limbs by the means of removal of the leader or longest portion of a limb.
DEFINITION OF TERMS PRECUT OR PRECUTTING - The two-step process to remove a branch before the finished cut is made so as to prevent splitting or bark tearing into the parent stem. The branch is first undercut, then cut from the top before the final cut. PRUNING - Removal of plant parts. RECIPROCATING CUTTING BLADE - A moving blade that alternately changes direction on a linear cutting axis.
SAFETY APPAREL Always wear eye protection conforming to the ANSI Z87.1 or CE Standard when operating a pole saw (Z87 or CE is stamped on the eye protection). Wood chips, dust, snapping branches and other debris can be tossed by the cutting saw chain into the operator’s facial area. Eye protection may also offer some protection in the event the chain hits the operator in the eye area. If conditions warrant that a ventilated face shield be worn, eye protection must be worn underneath it.
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS WARNING WARNING DANGER DANGER Do not attempt to start or operate your pole saw until you have carefully read and completely understand your Operator’s and Safety Manuals. Locate, understand and follow the warning decals on your pole saw. Be familiar with the controls and the proper use of the unit. Know how to shut the unit off. Failure to follow these warnings can result in serious injury or death.
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS • Follow sharpening and maintenance instructions for the saw chain in your Operator’s Manual. Do not resharpen saw blades. • Use only replacement guide bars, saw chains or blades specified by the manufacturer. • Do not over reach. • Do not operate the unit if you are fatigued, or under the influence of alcohol, medication or any substance that can affect your vision, dexterity or judgment. You must be in good physical and mental health to operate a pole saw safely.
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS • Keep all parts of your body away from the saw chain or blade when the engine is running. • Before you start the engine or motor, make sure the saw chain or blade is not contacting anything. • Carry the pole saw with the engine or motor stopped, the guide bar and saw chain or blade to the front, and keep the hot muffler away from your body. • Do not operate a pole saw that is damaged, improperly adjusted, or not completely and securely assembled.
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS • Do not run the gasoline engine indoors, or where there is poor ventilation. Engine exhaust contains deadly carbon monoxide poison. • Keep both feet on the ground. Do not work from off-the ground positions. Working from ladders is extremely dangerous because ladders can slip, as well as, limit your control of the pole saw. Working aloft should be left to professionals. • Use your saw only to cut wood or wood products.
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS WARNING WARNING DANGER DANGER The pole saw’s engine can continue to run when the blade is jammed. Before attempting to release or free the jam, always switch the engine off, disconnect the spark plug wire from the spark plug. After assuring the blade and engine have stopped, proceed to clear the jam. Wear gloves while clearing material from the jammed blades. Never grasp the sharp, exposed cutting blade of the pole saw.
SOME ADDITIONAL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS PRECAUTIONS IN HOT, HUMID WEATHER - Heavy clothing can increase an operator’s fatigue. Heat stroke or heat exhaustion is possible. Under these adverse conditions, you must judge whether wearing heavy protective clothing or lighter but less protective items bears the least risk. Or you might wisely choose to delay work until the temperature drops.
FORCES TO CONTROL This section is about forces which must be controlled to avoid injury when operating a pole saw. Pros and cons of various safety devices are included in the discussion. Always remember that your best defenses are to exercise caution and use the pole saw properly. Here is an example of a reaction to an action: if you sit on the floor and push forcefully enough against a wall with your feet, your body will slide away from the wall.
FORCES TO CONTROL On guide bar and saw chain configured pole saws, proper saw chain tension cannot be maintained when and if the: • Drive sprocket is worn. • Guide bar is improperly clamped to the pole saw. • Tension adjuster has not engaged the guide bar, thus allowing the guide bar to shift. • Guide Bar rails are in poor condition. • Guide bar and saw chain are improperly lubricated.
BALANCE AND BODY POSITION FOR CUTTING Pole saws are designed for light to medium trimming of limbs and branches up to 20.3 cm (8 in.) in diameter. After starting, pick up the pole saw and proceed as follows: • Plan cut carefully. Check direction branch will fall. • Do not stand directly beneath branch being cut. • Plan a retreat path from falling branches. Branches may bounce when striking the ground. • Stand with your weight on both feet.
BALANCE AND BODY POSITION FOR CUTTING • When completing an elevated cut, be ready to hold up the pole saw as it cuts into the clear, so it will not follow through. • Limit your cutting to the range within which you can control the pole saw fully. Don’t reach out because you could lose your balance. • Make limbing and pruning cuts one at a time. Do not try to prune more than one branch at a time. • Do not prune near power lines. PINCHING, BINDING, SPLITTING Wind bends trees.
LIMBING AND BUCKING When you wish to cut off an unsupported section from the end of a branch, the weakening or finishing cut should be an overbuck (from top down). However, you may begin with a shallow underbuck to avoid splitting and some damage to the tree or limb. WARNING WARNING DANGER DANGER Do not cut, walk or stand on a limb while cutting. Serious personal injury may result. If the saw chain becomes pinched in a bind, SHUT OFF THE ENGINE OR MOTOR. Free the bind by lifting the limb.
WHEN TO CALL A PROFESSIONAL There are times that the solution to a problem with a mature tree is best handled by a professional arborist. When do you call for professional help? 1. When you don’t have the expertise and proper equipment to safely accomplish the job. 2. When the tree is too large and pruning requires extension equipment like a bucket truck. 3. When the tree is located near utility lines, buildings or a highway you should consult a professional. 4.
PRUNING: TIMING AND TECHNIQUE Pruning is vital to the health and beauty of trees. Pruning controls the size and direction of growth, improves a tree’s health, diminishes risk of infection and increases the size of flower and fruit production. Proper pruning also encourages growth by opening up the tree’s canopy and branch structure. But first and foremost, proper pruning is important for tree health. Dead wood that is left on a tree is a food source for fungi and bacteria that can damage a tree.
PRUNING: TIMING AND TECHNIQUE • WOUND DRESSINGS - Wound dressings have been shown to interfere with the natural development of callus tissues that eventually close the pruning wound. In some cases, wound dressings can even harbor disease organisms much like what occurs when a BandAid is left on a skin cut too long. It is far more important to make the cut smooth, outside of the collar and allow the wound to dry.
PRUNING: TIMING AND TECHNIQUE C. With most needled evergreens, pruning is confined to trimming back a portion of new growth to control height or spread, or to even the shape. Pine growth tips (commonly called candles) can be cut back from one-third to threequarters prior to the time the needles of the candles unfold. The growth tips of spruce and fir can be trimmed back by as much as three-quarters while the shoots are still tender and flexible.
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