Combine!!

Saw this--Whats going on??---Tee


HOT??

When my combine caught fire it was from dry dust landing on the exhaust manifold and smoldering, then falling off to find more dust to ignite. When you are in the cab watching what you are combining you don't get to see that first smoke that hints of problems to come and by the time you notice it there is little to be done except to get out. Since my combine was so old it had lots of steel and I saw the fire early I was able to use the extinguisher and get it out. The second time it caught fire after I had parked it for the night and since it was in a remote location nobody saw it until I got there in the morning.

Combine fires are not that uncommon. Working in hot dusty conditions with lots of hot exhaust and oils , all it takes is a bearing going bad or dust accumulating on exhaust systems. We always carry a fire extinguisher on board, but really, once a fire is detected, it's probably too far ahead to put out. Newer machines have more plastic construction....even fuel tanks and oil reservoirs...one would think that a half million dollar machine would come with some sort of fire detection and suppression system. When they burn.....hundreds of gallons of fuel, oils etc. make a difficult blaze to control, especially when in a dru field that burns easily as well. Quite a loss.

Ben

A JD 105 I owned got on fire by my shop.

I was welding on the exhaust pipe and some red hot slag from welding dropped into some accumulated oily residue under the engine. That one, I was able to put out.

Hi Tee. Was a show on YouTube the other night some farmer heard a noise that was different than usual so he got out to check on it. He saw smoke coming out of the combine but couldn't really tell where the fire was. He drove it over to the grain cart and unloaded it, then drove over to the header wagon and took the header off and drove it down the road to his place. Pulled all the electronics out of it and then got the water hose and started spraying where he thought it was. He finally found a hot bearing that had some chaff smoldering in the back somewhere.

See you this weekend? Better make sure it is warm and dry for us guys.

Neighbor just had his pretty new Gleaner go up in smoke. It happened a couple of weeks ago and he still hasn't gotten a replacement. He's usually one of the first folks done. Funny thing is I know he's good friends with the local Gleaner dealer, has all agco equipment except for the planter. Wondering why they haven't gotten him a combine to get done.

I had my little Massey 300 light up while shelling corn . I had just got the ends all opened up and was starting to split the field and all of a sudden the cylinder variable speed crank spun around and smacked me in the elbow , This is weird never done this before and i happened to look out the right side and there was LOTS of black smoke I made a mad dash out of the corn field running over corn and into a green hay field and stopped and bailed out with a five pound extinguisher the big drive belt and all the dust and built up chaff was blazing . i learned first hand that a five pounder was NOT enough i had hardly slowed the fire . I was about 3-400 feet from a house and saw a garden hoes hanging on the back of the house and drove the combine over close and grabbed the hose and went to work . Someone driving by on the state highway had seen the fire and called the local fire Dept that was about a mile away and here they came two trucks and a tanker . I had it pretty well under control when they got there . Sure glad my old 300 was made out of STEEL and not plastic . Yea i had a little scorched paint one big belt the air cleaner hose two bearings and a seal to replace and had it back up and shelling in two days along with adding two more five pounders and a two and a half pounder . I was lucky not to catch the field on fire . Yep that will get your heart racing big time.

Neighbors combine caught fire on my property while doing winter wheat. Drove it out of the field onto the county road where it burnt to a crisp before the VFD could get there, he was the Chief. No fire extinguisher on board but it wouldnt of mattered. Dang those things burn black.

To stop a combine fire you need plenty of water and you need to get the fire when it is small. Otherwise you had just as well start looking for a replacement combine. If there is anything good about a burnt to the crisp combine it is worth more as clean scrap iron.

We had a 1640 that blazed up picking soybeans one time. I was bragging to myself at how great everything was going...great yield, machine cutting and threshing them well etc. I turned around on the end row to make another pass and looked in mirror. The dust had a blue tint to it. Couldn't see anything wrong so continued on picking. It won't long before it was flames. Drove it up to the farm path, jumped out with all the extinguishers and dumped them. That slowed it up but didn't put it out. Tried calling FD but no phone service. I was getting desperate so started stripping clothes off to beat it out. By the time my jeans were ruined it was out. Talk about getting your heart pumping. About that time dad pulled up and wanted to know why I was standing in the cold with nothing but my boxers and brogans on. Needless to say I didn't have much to say after all the excitement except get me to the house to re dress.