Hagen Brothers farms,Goodrich ND | On another discussion about combine fires,SD Man stated that one combine owner who believed the ridiculous static fire theory,went so far as to mount a hydraulic actuated plow Coulter on the rear axle of his combine. He could bury the thing 6 inches deep,and guess what,he still had just as many dust fires.
Have any of you stepped down off your combine and received a static shock that about put your lights out ? No way,it does not happen,the drag chain does little good because the combine tires have so much carbon black in the rubber mixture that they conduct high voltage electricity and discharge any static as it forms. Another thing that made me disbelieve the static electricity theory is that pull type,PTO powered combines are still popular in this area ,and are used to harvest sunflower. I did it with my 1482 and a buddy with his 6601 and later his own 1482. While the SP machines were having fire problems all around us,those old PT machines never had a fire, Why not ? The picking and threshing mechanism is identical to the SP units,so why wouldn't they have the same static induced fire problem? The difference is that they have no engine with it's hot exhaust system perched up on top of the combine. The engine/exhaust system is 30 ft out in front on the tractor where it sees much less dust with less chance of a burning "firefly" making it's way back to the combine and finding a pile of dry trash.
The dust fires in very low humidity with a dry oily crop is from crop material hitting the hot exhaust system and turbo,where they ignite and drift off to a tinder dry pile of dust somewhere on the combine. I have been up on the rear of my 1480 harvesting sunflower in very dry conditions at night. You would be amazed how many bits of dry crop fuzz ignite on the exhaust manifold and turbo,then drift off to any place on the combine. 99% burn out before they find a pile of combustible stuff,but that 1% will get you if you do not carry a leaf blower and clean the combine often to remove the fuel source for the fires .
I very much suspect MSB's fire in the radiator compartment came from an exhaust lit ember that found it's way in through the same hole where the rest of the trash that it lit got in.
Edited by Jon Hagen 8/12/2006 18:09
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Fires - JD 9000 Series Combines - Have Some Questions
