TO-35 Fire Hazard?

Lost my '54 TO35 brush hogging some dry grass a few months back. Not sure of the cause, I don't think dust build up was enough. I think it's salvageable, but a local tractor guy made a comment about them being a known fire hazard. Has anyone known old Ferguson's to be particularly prone to fires? I'm trying to decide whether it's worth fixing. I don't want to worry about it catching fire on myself or my kids. Any fixes to make it less prone if that is the case?

only thing Ive ever heard about fires is when you have the muffler that exhausts out the back (horizontally under tractor) that they need to be watched when using them in dry, taller grass as the grass can touch the muffler.
They do make Vertical exhaust that go from manifold stright up the side of the tractor along the hood.
These have negatives also, like louder, exhaust can blow in your face, rain can collect in "U" shape.

Mark

I would think the only problem would be the muffler. Did grass build up around it? Where did the fire start? Never known of any burning.

Happens reasonably often here , yes build up around underslung exhausts is often the cause . Wire wrapped around slasher blades is another cause , the sparks it throws as it spins round are ferocious . I carry a stored water fire fighter on the slasher when cutting in summer for this very reason.
The worst fire hazard the English tractors have is the electron alloy used in the steering and gear boxes . This has a high magnesium content and if subjected to a high enough ignition temperature will burn with an intensity that is horrifying .

I was dragging some dry leaves the other day with my TO35,

as soon as I got the leaves out in the field I noticed smoke rising from my under belly muffler area,

Quickly dumped the leaves, pulled the tractor out of the way, jumped off an started stomping and spreading out the leaves.

No problem this time, but in the past I have caught a corn field on fire with my under belly muffler,

I have tried the up right muffler, but kept hitting tree limbs, etc, finally broke the exhaust manifold,

So I went back to the under belly muffler, much less noise, overall like it better,

Years ago I understand Ferguson did make a guard for the underbelly muffler, but as it was about 1" lower than the muffler, not many of them exist today, they got bent up, taken off.

In dry conditions you cannot set up there asleep, my friend had a gearbox bearing go bad on his rotary cutter, caught a field on fire, had six local fire trucks out there,
another neighbor had a bearing box under his corn header go out, he burned 35 acres before they got that fire out.

Must be heads up at all times during dry conditions, also dry grass and seeds can stop up the front of the radiator, he let the motor get hot, cost him a motor rebuild.

50 or more years ago I was mowing grass with a 35 and after a few hours noticed smoke coming from the area of the water pump. seems a build of dry grass ignited. luckily I was close enough to a water source to put the fire out but man o man was the gasoline boiling in the fuel tank. extremely lucky I think I was.

wow, never thought about metal being whipped around under the mower. One gigantic "Spark Stick".

There was a green belly that caught fire up here about 5 years ago.
I think it was a combination of spilt gas and electrical short.
It got totaled, but was then restored again. No serious damage.

It has a horizontal exhaust but that's not where the fire started. I heard something a little off in the way it was running stopped the tractor and noticed flames coming up out from between the hood and the instrument panel. Electrical short by the battery maybe? Either way the sediment cup ended up melting away and fed the fire for a good while. The fire took out all the wiring and instruments, battery was soup, but I don't think it's too bad to fix. I'm getting some parts this week to test it out before I launch into a total rehab. Glad to here there don't seem to be too many similar fires at least, mostly exhaust related.

First I would invest in a good quality front grill screen if you do not have one, that will keep a lot of dead grass, etc, from building up in front of your radiator area.

Was the electrical system overcharging, that can get a battery hot, melt wires, etc,

When cutting dead dry grass, at lunch or end of day as soon as the tractor cools off I always wash the radiator out from the fan side insuring all dirt and seeds are out off the radiator, then chech between radiator and front grill.

You must keep this area clean and keep a eye on your heat gauge at all times.
All gauges should be working properly.

Over the years many fires have happened as folks add fuel to the tractor, either spin fuel or over fill the tank and it runs down on a hot motor.

No real excuse, just take your time and have the proper equipment, I have done it, why, just not watching what I am doing, can be very dangerous.

My friend has a TO30 Ferguson and it does not have a heat shield over the exhaust manifold, fuel will boil in his tank, I would not want to drive that tractor, but he has used it for years like that an no fires.

Sorry to hear of your loss.

I don't see the Fergies being any more prone to fire than any other tractor. At least the 35's had a heat shield under the gas tank, the earlier models didn't and on a hot day the gas could boil in the tank, boil out the cap if it were full!

The age factor would be the biggest contributor when it comes to the wiring. The old insulation was prone to deteriorate after only 50+ years of exposure to weather, mice, and Bubba. (LOL) But every other tractor used the same wire, it was all that was available.

Hope you get it going soon!