I hear from time to time of skidders catching fire.Wondering what would be some of the main causes .Maybe some fires can be prevented . Any thoughts?
Oh yes they most certainly can be prevented. I lost one machine when the battery cables arced out underneath the seat of a C5 Treefarmer, caught the oil/tree debris by the transfer case on fire, fire extinguisher was corroded in the pin and didn't work so the machine burnt. Debris will build up on a exhaust manifold and catch fire when the engine is pushed hard in hot weather. Hydraulic hoses can burst and spray on manifolds igniting the oil which quickly spreads to other sources of material. Oh I could write a book on this!
Poor maintenance. Let enough wood debris, leaves, etc. accumulate inside the engine compartment, add some oil from hydraulic or engine leaking into the mess throw in some hot weather to dry it all out, then add an exhaust leak or a shorted battery cable...
Yep, when I bought my 440, I cleaned out over 75 lbs of debris from the belly pans. I cleaned out everything to prevent this.
With how much oil my dozer leaks im betting theres gonna be 300lbs of flamable clay shmeg under there when i finally pull the pan. Not very eager about that.
I had a timber pro harvester once and the exhaust was literally 3 inches from one of the fuel lines . Plastic line!!! Designed this way from factory . And the exhaust sprung a leak right toward the fuel line melting the plastic which sprung a fuel leak stalling the engine and starting a fire at the same time. I got the fire out unluckily. Lol. As I had to replace a lot a lot of things to get it back going. Would have costed less to let it burn probably. But after the fire and the rehab it was a good machine for over 2 years when I traded it in. I did build a metal guard reinforced with anti flam high heat exhaust wrap to prevent that from happening again. 2 years later so many timber pros burned that the insurance companies quit insuring them until timber pro completely re designed the machine. And that's what you see today cab on opposite side . Engine compartment completely different etc .
the out board brakes are the worst I took the small plate off the belly pan where the caliper is on my 518 now no crap builds up and so far no fires in 6 years 8)
Yes, the couple I know about was from running with the e-brake on.
What most ppl don't understand is what happens after you shut the engine down. It does not immediately start to cool. the temperature actually continues to rise until you have reached thermal saturation. The reason for this is when the engine is running you have fluid movement. The moving fluid does not transfer the heat to the surrounds as readily as it does when you shut the engine off and now all that hot liquid stops moving.
During some of my testing I have had engine temperatures rise 30-40 degrees celsius within 10 minutes of shutdown. Some pretty crazy stuff. Add that temperature increase to everything that was mentioned above and you have a ticking time bomb.
I saw this really sweet fire suppression system at the boonville show. I just can't remember the name of it but it looks like a really sweet system. Many insurance companies are offering discounts if your machine is setup with it.
crusarius makes a great point as do others, you have to expel or shield the heat, take away the fuel sources by maintenance, isolation and good old fashion recognition of bad design or poor routing of lines.
D
Loose wire on the alternator sparked caught the debris on fire, the extinguisher wasn't charged so I lost the skidder. It was a Clark with a Detroit. Also the brakes on Clark's, gotta be careful
Brake caliper dragging on my C7 started on fire from friction leraves ect. Grabbed the fire extingriture and put it out everything was ok. But scared the crap out of me.
I had a carrier bearing for the driveshaft go south and started a fire in the leaves and grease. I used up my water for the day real quick. I think the moral of the story is keep the machine clean.
and carry fire extinguisherS and don't forget to inspect them once in a while :)
Starter shorted out, kept running and melting, dripping, burning wire insulation set some debris in the belly pan on fire. Luckily I'd cleaned it out not too long before and it didn't take much snow to put it out. I had an extinguisher in the cage but snow was in abundance and easily accessible ;) ;D
Burnt a dozer down a few years ago when the cable from the battery rubbed through into the steel fuel line. Had a fire extinguisher but it was burning under the right floorboard and no way to get it up to get to the fire. So as everyone suggests keep everything as clean as possible and watch out for things that's going to cause a problem.
We lost a forwarder last winter, the machine that had an automatic fire suppression system (and it deployed), and a master power disconnect switch that was turned off. Nobody came up with a reasonable explanation as to why it burned, just remained a mystery.
Wasn't your boss in a bit of financial trouble? That seems to cause nearly as many fires as debris and poorly routed lines😁😁
Brake left on with the Clarks is the other cause of fire here.
But the regular fireplace is on the manifold. That regular that in addition to the full size extinguishers we fit them all up with one of those 2lb jobs. I've cleaned the manifold off at 6am and had smoke rising by lunch many times. Not a lot of risk in them until you've got a gallon of hydraulic oil over 4" of trash in her belly.
What do you guys prefer for an extinguisher. CO2 or ABC powder. I have heard CO2 can also be used to stop a run away engine but not so good on electrical and the ABC powder can ruin a lot of stuff from corrosion but will put out any fire.
gg
Quote from: mike_belben on November 08, 2017, 09:04:57 PM
With how much oil my dozer leaks im betting theres gonna be 300lbs of flamable clay shmeg under there when i finally pull the pan. Not very eager about that.
I know that's going to be a chore but on one of these wet winter days maybe that should get moved up the priority list. What a list of accidents here. Learning (or reinforcing) a lot, belly pans, fire extinguishers, brakes. Thanks to everyone for sharing; my new (to me) tractor finally finished the overhaul and is being delivered to the site with my FAE SSH200. Cant wait to wrap up armoring it and getting to work.
Yeah, its actually all apart now getting some repairs
Just a thought here. A co2 tank with a hand valve and a long hose to an air gun and soft copper extension tube might be a pretty potent tool for getting the start of a floor board fire under control.
Ive not ever tried putting outna fire with it but they are used pretty often as suppression systems on offroad trucks and CNC machines.. Flood with Co2 to displace oxygen. Id think if you could blast the top surface layer of burning junk out of that nook its burning in, maybe youve got a chance the entire belly pan full doesnt catch.
Ive always had a 20 lb co2 tank for tire filling on my road truck. You get a LOT of gas for $17 and it never leaks out like a fire extinguisher.
At the junkyard fires were an everyday thing. Used water tanks with an air charge on top of them. Never let you down
Quote from: barbender on November 09, 2017, 09:05:03 PM
Wasn't your boss in a bit of financial trouble? That seems to cause nearly as many fires as debris and poorly routed lines😁😁
But they after that he got a newer forwarder and a newer processor, so I doubt he burned it up.....
Just a ribbin'😁😉
Funny coincidence i got this in an email today. huge defective extinguisher recall, many brands, free replacement.
https://www.thetruckersreport.com/recall-2-5-million-fire-extinguishers-sold-cmvs/