0458-725-8621-B
18
English 
5 IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
– If the cutting attachment loosens after being properly 
tightened, stop work immediately and have the unit 
inspected by your authorized STIHL servicing 
dealer.
■ A cracked, damaged or worn out cutting attachment may 
shatter at high speeds and cause serious or fatal injury.
– Replace a cracked, damaged or worn out mowing 
head or a cracked, bent, warped, damaged, dull or 
worn out blade immediately, even if damage 
appears to be limited to superficial cracks.
– Never use a trimmer / brushcutter with a loose or 
damaged cutting attachment.
DANGER
■ To reduce risk of electrocution:
5.8 Working with the Cutting Attachments
5.8.1 Kickout (Blade Thrust) with All Metal Cutting 
Attachments
WARNING
■ This kickout (blade thrust) may cause loss of control and 
may result in serious or fatal injury to the operator or 
bystanders. To reduce the risk of injury, extreme caution 
should be used when cutting with the shaded area of any 
rigid blade.
■ The greater the force of the kickout reaction, the more 
difficult it becomes for the operator to control the unit. 
Blade thrust is more likely to occur in areas where it is 
difficult to see the material being cut.
■ Many factors influence the occurrence and force of the 
kickout reaction. These include cutting attachment speed, 
the speed at which the cutting attachment contacts the 
object, the location and angle of contact, the condition of 
the cutting attachment, and how quickly the cutting 
attachment is slowed, snagged or stopped, among other 
factors.
– Use caution when working with the shaded areas of 
any metal cutting attachment.
■ To reduce the risk of personal injury from kickout and 
blade thrust when using a rigid cutting attachment:
– Avoid cutting close to fences, sides of buildings, tree 
trunks or other such objects when a metal cutting 
blade is mounted. STIHL recommends using a nylon 
line head for such jobs.
– Keep metal cutting attachments sharp.
– Keep bystanders at least 50ft. (15m) away from the 
work area.
– Never operate this trimmer in the vicinity 
of any wires or cables that may be 
carrying electric current.
– Do not rely on the trimmer's insulation 
against electric shock.
0000-GXX-3025-A1
Kickout (blade thrust) is the sudden and 
uncontrolled movement of the cutting head 
toward the operator's right or rear that can occur 
when the shaded areas(especially the darkly 
shaded area) of a rotating blade contact a solid 
rigid object like a tree, rock, bush or wall. The 
cutting attachment may be thrown to the right or 
to the rear(black arrow) any time the rapid 
rotation of the blade is stopped, slowed, 
snagged or bound in an object that it doesn't 
immediately cut.