what type extinguishers do you have on your machines?

R Wyler

Member
I had a 2.5 gallon water one and the tube broke. Company is out of buisiness so I am going to get a new one. I know a water one is good to have and also do you carry one for oil fires? Again I am scared of fire and want to do anything I can do save the machine but in dry wheat stubble it will go up FAST and HOT. I have a 20 gallon portable compressor and I will do all I know to keep that L clean even around bearings ect. Any other advice?? I guess I will have the 930 and offset disc on standby if it all goes down hill....
 
New Deere machines come with dry chemical extinguishers, one by the cab and one by the engine, if I remember right. The choppers come with a dry and a water. I think it would be a good idea to keep one of each with the machine, they can spend the off season at the shop too. Nice thing about the water ones you can recharge them with a garden hose and air compressor. I carry one on the service truck to use to cool off parts as well as keep the flames down when using the torch. Just don't let the water ones freeze unless you use the chemical antifreeze in them, every year it seems we have one or two burst at work.
 
Our 07 j.d. chopper has a dry chemical on it from the factory. Darn thing didn't work when we had a truck on fire this year. Good deal the lot we were chopping for had a couple guys on the department and they where close. The thing sets vertical and the stuff vibrates and packs to the bottom and is supposed to be shook up once and a while. That was something I didn't think about and have been doing that to all of ours once a month. The new 2013 has a water one on it.
 
The trouble with water is it takes so dang much of it. 5 gallons of water won't put out a very big fire. A 10 lb B,C dry extinguisher will smother a much larger fire. It does make a mess but the fire is out. I carried them for years on our combines in wheat and never used them. I did have gas engine fires when I was young and dumb and didn't have the chemical extinguishers. The old gasoline engines would start fires much easier than diesel engine combines. I was lucky though and never lost a combine.
 
Two dry chem 10 pounders. One mounted on the ladder to the cab, second one top rear platform next to the engine. This is on a CIH.
 
Two 10# dry type, and I also carry three 2.5 gallon jugs of water.(tarp strapped up on the back deck on a CIH Axil Flow) A lot of time you will have smoldering chaff on a combine that a dry extinguisher will blow all over the machine (starting fires everywhere).....water will put it out on the spot.
 
i have 2 5-lb dry chemical, one in the cab and one mounted on the back. however i did lose a combine a few years back and i had used both. the motor threw a rod out the side of the block and it knocked off the fuel filters . i had the fire knocked down but the first fire buned coating off the wires in the back(1680)and the elec fuel pump started running and sparying fuel and it was all over with at that point, fire dept had to work apx 15 mins to put it out. the back half was a total loss.
 
Both chemical and water but especially water and make sure they are where you can get to them NOW. It doesn't hurt to have a sand shovel somewhere on the combine for a backup in case you run out of water or someone forgot to put the chemical extinguisher back or if a hot bearing part drops in the stubble and gets it going.

Water cools a hot bearing or anything that rubs and gets hot. Chemical puts the fire out and blows a few embers around to boot but the hot metal is still hot. Chemical is for oil or fuel fires. During my days on the harvest we had quite a few fires but we always got them out in a hurry so the damage was minimal to none. Worst we had was a few burned hydraulic hoses that we had to replace. If you have a draper head a bearing in a roller can get hot and catch the belt on fire and in that case a chemical extinguisher can knock it down faster than water because you can shoot the chemical down and inside of the belt. Lots of different ways to start a fire on a combine. Jim
 
Thanks for all the responses. I can see how it is very important to have more than and located in those places so that one can be reached faster in key areas. That has to be scarey in the field because it is a mattter of seconds before things get BAD.
 
My dad ran old combines for years and cussed working on the dang things and said every combine should cary a fire extinguisher filled with gas.
 
Some may laugh at me but I carry an ordinary garden sprayer.About a 3 gallon plastic one. Has the hand pump to pressurize it so its ready to spray any time I might need it. Strapped to the platform outside the cab. Got a chemical extinguisher under the seat. Only used the water once when I had a smouldering bit of straw on top of the rotor cage. Never did figure out what started that but glad I had the water to spray on it.
 
Sheesh, I forgot I already posted a few days ago.
Well, I'll add some more. Had a lot of experience with fire with 8 combines on the wheat harvest.

One of each along with a sand shovel and scoop shovel for beating on the burning stubble and raking the fire back away from the fresh stubble or throwing dirt on the flames. If a hot bearing part falls in the stubble you might not have fire in the combine but the field around it will go up fast. You have to get at it NOW as fast as you can get down out of the cab and grab the shovel. Now the problem comes in finding a place for all that equipment. LOL. Jim
 
Yes I can see how that could make the difference. I know that wheat stubble burns hot and FAST and very fierce. I don't see how one could have more than seconds to react before it would be time to RUN. Even being on top the machine if brave enough to fight and engine fire a man would have to make sure not to get surrounded by fire down below. I plan to have the 930 and offset disc right there and if someone else is there tell them to get it going ASAP to try to contain it if they see flames.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top