By Sonja Begemann and Betsy Jibben
Sure, you hear Extension, ag magazines and retailers beat the drum on safety year in and year out—but it probably doesn’t really hit you just how important it is until it hits home. This year, more and more farmers are learning first-hand the importance of combine safety in droughty years as machine fires combust across the U.S.
Salix, Iowa farmer Ron Wood takes extra time every day to ensure the combine is as safe to operate as possible. His nephew was caught in a combine fire, and it’s a nightmare he never wants to relive.
“Every single day, we take compressed air and blow the sides of the combine out to get it clean so there is no buildup of dust and debris to catch fire,” he explained to AgDay TV National Reporter Betsy Jibben. It’s a practice that could save lives, as most fires that happen on combines are behind the view of the operator.
“Combine fires often start behind the operator’s view, so it may be difficult to easily or quickly extinguish,” said Josie Rudolphi, University of Illinois Extension associate research scientist.
According to University of Illinois Extension, combine fires are one of the most common and expensive fire incidents in ag,
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Because these fires take off quickly and are hard to extinguish—which could lead to acres upon acres of damage—the best cure is prevention.
Here are a couple of the more common fire causes, and prevention tips, from experts at the University of Illinois:
- Cause: buildup of trash and debris such as leaves, chaff and stalks around the engine, exhaust or other machine parts that heat up.
- Prevention: frequently blow out debris with a leaf blower or air compressor. In addition, inspect the machine frequently around bearings, belts and other moving parts for trash buildup.
- Cause: leak in the fuel or hydraulic system that hit a hot surface.
- Prevention: check the hydraulic lines frequently and replace any leaking, cracked or worn-out lines. Keep hydraulic lines away from heat sources.
In addition, make sure you have at least two working fire extinguishers on combines that are easily accessible before the fire gets out of control. If you’re in an especially dry area, it might be a good idea to have a disk hooked up and ready to go, just in case a fire quickly spreads from the combine. Disking up the crop can cut off the path the fire follows.
