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Farmall & IHC Tractors Discussion Forum
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Cause of Tractor Fire?

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Gramps544

11-30-2003 11:42:22




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At the local tractor salvage yard, it appears that most tractors there were in some sorta fire. I do not what my I-544 to suffer a similar fate.

What cause fires on tractors? My nieghbor had his combine burned to the ground this summer. He was harvesting his wheat and it appears to have started at his front wheel (JD combine so no big loss....just about $75,000).

I can see grasses getting stuck in the PTO cover or the wheel bearings causing heat and starting a fire. This summer I added lights to my tractor and the hot lead got pinched between the clutch pedal and frame. This smoked my wire (was at night so I noticed my glowing wire, no fuse on circuit). Are electrical problems the major fire causes?

If fires are such a major potential problem, why do most tractor not have fire extinguishers on them (mine included)?

Just looking for some information to keep my tractor out of the salvage yard.

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Dan

11-30-2003 21:28:35




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
I will add one more. Saw a fairly new JD at the dealership here last year that had burned. Said it started from a birds next on a manifold.



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Gramps544

11-30-2003 19:30:10




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
I do try to do all the checks that have been listed before I operate my machine. I only put 50 hrs or so on it a year, so time between operation are weeks apart.

I was lucky with my wiring problem as it only burned thru a few nearby wires.

I do keep my engine clean, but gas does drip out off the weep hole in the bottom of my carb when not running. It is parked on dirt in a 3 sided shed so I am not to concerned about the small trace of gas that is lost.

For the guy who has to remove his muffer to park his tractor in the garage, I to have to do this. I have found that after I park my tractor in the shed I place the muffer back on it due to its heat. My building is 3 side so the muffer would cool the same on the tractor as on the ground. I am in the process of modifing my exhaust to run the muffer parallel to the hood to eliminate this problem.

I am going to start keeping a fire extinguisher on the my tractor while I am operating it. It is stored in a non heated area so the fire ext. can not be perminatly mounted to it.

As for fueling, my user manual in bold letters states to only fill the gas tank when cool. I follow this suggestion everytime. One thing of concern, my gas tank has a fitting on the filler tube that is basically a small tube with a hole thru it. If the tank is overfilled gas would go out this tube. The fitting is only about 1/2" long. I wonder if a plastic tube is supposed to be run from this fitting to discharge this fuel under the tractor and onto the ground?

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farmerjohn

11-30-2003 17:50:30




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
I learned some years ago in 4-H tractor club that you should ALWAYS carry a fire extinguisher on every tractor. Unfortunately like a lot of safty rules they are ignored since "it only happens to the other guy."



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Peabody

11-30-2003 16:49:07




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
There is also a phenomenon known as a Friction Fire. This is when the bank note rubs against the insurance policy.



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ken

11-30-2003 17:57:10




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 Re: Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Peabody, 11-30-2003 16:49:07  
hugh brings up a good point don't fuel up hot i usually let it set 20 minutes to half hour to refuel if it's hot and then let set another 10-15 minutes before restarting same for shutting it off i usually park about 20 feet in front of the shed and turn the gas off and let run for about 30 seconds then shut down and let it cool down because i have to take the muffler off because it stands about 2 inchs taller than my garage door is high and i pull it off with my hands so if it's too hot to handle it sets til it is.then i start it and back in the shed and let run til it dies unhook the battery and put the muffler back on.

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Hugh MacKay

11-30-2003 16:43:16




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
Gramps: One other fire source to watch closly for is fueling a hot gas tractor. The only fire I ever had was from this. The young operator had forgotten to fuel in morning and ran out of gas. It was a Cockshutt 540 with Continental flat head engine. He was fueling in a hurry from a 5 gallon jerry can, spilled some and the gas followed hood to engine and hit the hot engine. Caused quite an explosion, caught his clothing on fire. Luckily he semi burried himself in fresh cut corn silage, and received only minor burns. In this case tractor was clean, no oil leaks in dirt, so a few burned wires was extent of tractor damage. One thing I should point out he had gas cap back on before gas hit the engine. I hate to imagion what may have happened if that tank had stiil been open. BE CAREFUL FUELING HOT TRACTORS.

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49 Cubber!

11-30-2003 15:56:21




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
I DO keep a small extiquisher on my working M,tell ya why!I was putting some gas from a plastic 5 gallon can in the tank,the screw on cap and filler thingy was leaking slightly but not enough to cause a problem with major spillage.The can emptied and I wiped up the little that spilled,or so I thought.I started up the old M and for some strange reason,it shut off and shot a flame out of the muffler and I guess it was just fumes in the air but my ole M lit up like the forth of July.I was fortunate that I had a garden hose close by or it could have been worse.Now,I make dang sure the gas goes in the tank and what spills gets wiped up and what I cant see,I find!

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Farmall Daddy

11-30-2003 15:14:41




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
My dad once told me that he caught his gleaner on fire due to a hot bearing. Leaky fuel lines, and oil in the wrong area I imagine would cause such a fire. I caught my 88 Oliver on fire once, but I extinguished it rather quickly with my bare hands. My carb flooded out, and the motor backfired on me. Scared the sh** out of me.



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Dakota Jim

11-30-2003 15:06:12




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
Hopefully you didn't need to be told to keep your equipment clean in the first place, certainly you have been told at least half a dozen times in answer to your post. I suspect that isn't what lead to your problem. A guy who doesn't know enough to keep his equipment clean probably has a hard time finding his way home each night so I won't insult you by giving you such advice. I can state however that adding electrical components without proper fusing is a recipe for disaster. Most car fires that I have known of have been caused by some sort of attempt at just that. As one of the other posters related with his battery cable story, it isn't going to shut off until it burns up, the battery runs out or you break the connection which in your case should have been broken by a blown fuse. You were very fortunate to have gotten off so cheaply. Don't dream of doing it again.

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RayP(MI)

11-30-2003 14:44:40




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
Was plowing one afternoon, when the starter switch shorted out on my Farmall 200. Grounded back through the starter pull rod. I was able to rip the battery cable off with my bare hands, and a claw hammer from my tool box. Fortunately, I saved the tractor. Unfortunately, I got some nasty burns on my hands. Had this happened when I wasn't on the machine, it probably would have taken the tractor. When I put new starter rod on, I made sure it was insulated. I'm sure there's lots of tractors with similar switches just waiting to short out!

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Paul in Mich

11-30-2003 13:58:37




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
In addition to dust (chaf), and electrical shorts, one thing that causes tractor fires in the newer High horsepower tractors is not making sure the parking brake is released all the way. once the brakes get hot enough to kindle, there is enough hydraulic hoses, fuel spills etc to cause a major fire. I have seen many combines catch fire from wiped out bearings getting hot. As has been mentioned several times in this thread, keeping machinery clean and well maintained reduces the odds of having a fire.

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JB

11-30-2003 12:48:03




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
Gramps, had a B414D catch fire. Just like someone else said don't put tractors in the shed hot. In our case the voltage regulator shorted out wiring to generator, melted a hole in the plastic injector return line and Diesel fuel began to burn as it dripped from hole in return line. Luckily we saw smoke from shed and were able to extinquish fire before much damage.

JB



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rebuilder

11-30-2003 12:21:01




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
Gramps: Working at a salvage yard I can give you your #1 job. Keep your tractor clean. Blow off chaff regularly, fix execive fuel leaks/oil leaks. If your tractor has the underslung exhuast beware using in dry grassy conditions. Essentially if you look your tractor over every day or so top to bottom(that means under the sheet metal too!)in dirty working conditions, you are well on your way to keeping that tractor on your farm. O and by the way if you have been working that tractor hard, make sure you leave it set outside and cool down a good long while before you store it in the shed/barn. Many of the fires we see are after the equipment is stored and the guy goes in to eat supper only to have the fire dept. out there soon after. One fire a guy lost 3 late model J.D. 4x4's and 2 new combines. We got a magnum off another guy which burned as well as catching the disc he was pulling on fire as well! Seems a bird built a nest on his turbo charger in between field work and the wind was blowing 50 mph so the 90 gallons of diesel fuel made a nice blowtorch too cook his disc.

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doug@upr

11-30-2003 12:19:47




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
keep your equipment clean, fix oil leaks and make sure you keep mice out of your dash and other areas as they like to munch on electical wires.
other than that cross your fingers and make sure you have insurance. when you wash your equipment make sure you disconnect the battery cables after your done as i have heard of many units burning after been washed, i guess they short out.



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rebuilder

11-30-2003 12:19:47




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 Re: Cause of Tractor Fire? in reply to Gramps544, 11-30-2003 11:42:22  
Gramps: Working at a salvage yard I can give you your #1 job. Keep your tractor clean. Blow off chaff regularly, fix execive fuel leaks/oil leaks. If your tractor has the underslung exhuast beware using in dry grassy conditions. Essentially if you look your tractor over every day or so top to bottom(that means under the sheet metal too!)in dirty working conditions, you are well on your way to keeping that tractor on your farm. O and by the way if you have been working that tractor hard, make sure you leave it set outside and cool down a good long while before you store it in the shed/barn. Many of the fires we see are after the equipment is stored and the guy goes in to eat supper only to have the fire dept. out there soon after. One fire a guy lost 3 late model J.D. 4x4's and 2 new combines. We got a magnum off another guy which burned as well as catching the disc he was pulling on fire as well! Seems a bird built a nest on his turbo charger in between field work and the wind was blowing 50 mph so the 90 gallons of diesel fuel made a nice blowtorch too cook his disc.

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