The crispy Deere got me thinking

rrlund

Well-known Member
Seems maybe that burned Deere was most likely electrical. That got me thinking about this story on the net about hackers getting in to computers on farm equipment. Didn't that kind of thing happen to some Chrysler products recently?

What if known ner-do-wells managed to hack in to all of the computers in new tractors and application equipment some spring right in the heart of planting? Especially if it was something that took two,four,six weeks to remedy before the big guys with the new stuff could plant again. Scary thought in terms of food production. A windfall for those with older analog equipment I suppose,if there was a bright spot in such a scenario.
Proag
 
From my understanding it probably is not electrical, but rather the Tier IV emissions set-up.
I'm sure someone familiar with these engines will chime in. The exhaust gets so hot that the slightest amount of chaff or combustible material starts the fire, then it's a matter of seconds until the whole unit burns to the ground.
 
It did happen on a Chrysler product. I think it was a Jeep, however the one they hacked had a software change done in the main computer through the OBD2 port to allow remote access. They did it to prove they could if the software was altered. The other problem they encountered was they had to take it back to the dealer and have the correct software reinstalled as they couldn't reverse what they did to it.

Greg
 
I've heard a few guy's around here got into bottoms or places where they lost the signal . Would be interesting to try and find out where you lost the signal with a 24 row planter. Be even more interesting to try and pick it.
 
Seems like a hydraulic leak could start a fire pretty quick , already hot oil spraying on hot exhaust and poof.
 
Possible or some anti ag goons could have figured out a way to hack into computers most of those peoples thinking is o well ever farmer is getting government hand outs so they will just get free money for more equipment anyway
 
Most of the big guns lease so they just call the dealer and are back in business. So it wouldn't help the small guys much if any. One of the big guys here had a combine fire about 2 years ago and the dealer delivered another combine the same day.

Rick
 
Probably was. I believe the exhaust temps after the turbo where the dpf and stuff is, can get around 1000 ?F on certain engines. Dad had a JD 95 combine in the early 80's that the muffler broke off on. He said he heard it as soon as it broke off, but it had already started 2 fires by the time he climbed up to the engine. One where the hot muffler fell, and one where the exhaust blew directly on the chaff/dust. He was half a mile from home and by the time he got there, it had already burned a good portion of the field. Ended up losing all 60 acres of wheat and his combine.

Ross
 
But why are tractors that are less than ten years old leaking so much they ketch fire when my. 40 year old Deere that leaks a pail of oil every 3rd time I use and has farmer cobbled together wiring that would scare you to death aren't kvetching fire ??
 
Because modern emissions engines can run temps that are supper high and just a small spray of oil or fuel against exhaust or other hot engine parts can ignite fast. Also hydraulic systems often run hotter so easier to ignite a leak. And more plastic and wiring available for fuel to kindle and spread fire
 
Our Mack and Cummins engines with dpf run as high as 1900 degrees so even a bit of anything will catch fire on contact
 
The hacking treat is mainly about altering financial transactions and identity theft. The possibility of someone hacking into an extremely low production volume piece of farm equipment (less than a dozen or two of any one model produced per month) is really really remote, and then it would most likely have to be done by an industry insider. Operator error, lack of maintenance (cleaning, fixing leaks) and insurance fraud are still the cause of most farm equipment fires.

It may be a fun topic to discuss, but I wouldn't get too paranoid about anyone singling out the computers on just farm equipment. On the other hand, maybe there could be a huge opportunity in selling tin foil tractor covers and combine covers, LOL?
 
(quoted from post at 10:15:28 04/26/16) The hacking treat is mainly about altering financial transactions and identity theft. The possibility of someone hacking into an extremely low production volume piece of farm equipment (less than a dozen or two of any one model produced per month) is really really remote, and then it would most likely have to be done by an industry insider. Operator error, lack of maintenance (cleaning, fixing leaks) and insurance fraud are still the cause of most farm equipment fires.

It may be a fun topic to discuss, but I wouldn't get too paranoid about anyone singling out the computers on just farm equipment. On the other hand, maybe there could be a huge opportunity in selling tin foil tractor covers and combine covers, LOL?

Very true. Years ago when people were just really starting to spread computer viruses Apple was pretty secure. Not because Apple was so good but because they only had about 7% of the computer market. Apple tried to capitalize on the fact that their computers were pretty safe making the claim that their OS was better. Within 24 hours of them starting to run those ads making that claim Apple computers were getting viruses. Someone sent them a message to the effect that they had been leaving Apple alone because 7% wasn't worth the effort but they couldn't refuse the challenge. I think the tractor issue is pretty much going to be the same thing. As few as are sold, keeping in mind that there are only about 80,000 farmers, it just isn't worth the effort. Wouldn't be worth the effort if each one bought a new JD tractor in one year.

Rick
 

Oldtanker, not to be snarky but...80,000 farmers?

"The number of farms in the United States in 2015 was estimated at 2.07 million, down 18 thousand farms from 2014. Total land in farms, at 912 million acres, decreased 1 million from 2014. The average farm size in 2015 was 441 acres, up 3 acres from the previous year."

Source: USDA NASS great lakes region March bulletin.

JD
 
Seems all that smoke from the burning tractor probably caused more pollution than an older tractor running "dirty" for all it's life time, and then there's all the pollution caused by building a replacement for the one that burnt. I'm also hearing that we use more energy to build and install a wind turbine than it'll ever generate, how is that saving the planet? But what do we expect from folks who can't even balance a darn checkbook?
 
They had a segment on the on RFDTV farm report today about the posabilities of hackers getting into the new intigrated information systems. Said there was no way to stop them, but did list things to do to reduce risk and things tolook for that may indicate a system has been hacked. It is apparently already happening, but they sugested that it was more for the purpose of exploiting the financial and marketing aspects of a farm operation.
Loren
 
(quoted from post at 11:25:55 04/26/16)
Oldtanker, not to be snarky but...80,000 farmers?

"The number of farms in the United States in 2015 was estimated at 2.07 million, down 18 thousand farms from 2014. Total land in farms, at 912 million acres, decreased 1 million from 2014. The average farm size in 2015 was 441 acres, up 3 acres from the previous year."

Source: USDA NASS great lakes region March bulletin.

JD

Last I read the actual number of farmers was down to about 80K. Don't remember the source. Lot of small farms around here but only about 4 big guys doing the farming. They rent the little farms but the land owners still own the farm. Even then 2 million or so farmers wouldn't make up one percent of the population. And farmers with 400 acres or so ain't buying much if any new equipment.

Rick
 
I'm not sure where your getting that info. Number of farms in New Jersey= 9000 Number of farm "operators" in Iowa = 131,535.Maybe 80,000 in one county.
 
Oldtanker,

Yeah that's pretty much the scenario around here, small guys renting to the big dogs, and who could blame them the price of equipment these days. 400 acres would be a good sized spread in these parts. The big guys run 1000 or 2000 acres I'd say. But there's still a heck of a lot of small guys, maybe not buying those big tricked out behemoths, buying compact tractors. The blueberry grows seem to have enough money. Don't be too dismissive of the importance of our agriculture industry, particularly when you consider how little manufacturing is left in this country. I think rrlund raises a good point when you consider the massive amount of industrial espionage the Chinese have been up to lately. Heck if they're going to the trouble of actually digging up GMO seeds from farmers' fields then what won't they stoop to? Some days I feel like WWIII has already started and it's not being fought with bombs our bullets (yet), but with economics and cyber, unfavorable trade deals and currency manipulation, theft of our intellectual properties, etc. Sorry to end on a down note, not trying to bum anybody out......I blame rrlund he's the one that started it! JD
 

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