Why a fire extinguisher?

[coolconnection]

OK why a fire extinguisher? Is there pretty much a root cause for the PT catching fire? Could it be from the chintzy clear fuel hose? Should this hose be replaced? Or is it mostly from the engine? These robin engines are rated pretty good in quality control. Now don't drill me, I see some of the problems people have had but the engines are rated better than honda and B&S. So where is all or most of the fires coming from? If I can prevent one from happening that would be good.

Thanks

 

[KentT]

I've only heard of one PT fire that I recall. But, when you think of a gas engine, with a five gallon gas tank and 10 gallon hydraulic tank only inches away from it on the PT 422/425, in the same engine compartment, not counting the gas line, hydraulic lines, etc., it is a prudent measure...

PTRich had added a fire extinguisher to my Kohler-powered PT-425 when I got it. I'm glad it's there, and even more glad that I've never needed to use it.

EXAMPLE: When I was clearing my lot, the contractor had a hydraulid line burst on a 20-ton excavator, spraying fluid onto the muffler and caught on fire -- only minutes after we'd set fire to a huge brushpile about ten feet away from the excavator and got it roaring. Th eexcavator was being used to feed that fire....

Luckily I had a 13,500 GPH pump sitting at the pond, and a 1" PVC hose run to the site -- just in case. We put the engine fire out with the water, but could not put out the fire from all the hydraulic fluid that it dumped underneath when all the adjacent hoses burned...

We pumped thousands and thousands of gallons of water onto that excavator and the adjacent brush pile for the next three hours or so, just to keep the fire under control long enough for the contractor to rush to another site site and haul back a larger excavator to help move this disabled one. He had a little Komatsu dozer on site, but it wouldn't budge the excavator. When he returned with larger excavator, they used it to pull while the little dozer pushed and finally moved the disabled one. Then the dozer was able to use dirt to put out the hydraulic fluid fire.

I have no idea how much water we pumped that scary afternoon, but we dropped the water level in a 4-acre pond by about 4"...

If I hadn't had the pump and water line pre-positioned, the excavator would likely have been a total loss. As it was, I understand it cost about $15K to repair it.

Better safe than sorry...

 

[SnowRidge]

At least a couple of PTs are known to have burned up. With the green machines, you have a gasoline powered piece of equipment with a very hot air cooled engine running in a semi closed environment, which often has oily or dry grass clippings trapped in inaccessible places. The PT mufflers get hot enough to ignite dry grass.

There is no shutoff valve of any kind on the high mounted fuel tank. The tank outlet is at the lowest point, which means you have running gasoline if there is a leak in the line or a fitting comes loose. It is extremely easy to spill gas when refueling due to the high mounted tank.

Why wouldn't you have a fire extinguisher?

 

[woodlandfarms]

My PT had a near fire prior to my ownership,. It was electrical, happened at the starter solenoid.

Not that I would call it a history of issues with the PT, but Sedgwood caught on fire from elecrical as well.

While anything is possible, I worry more about fire from electical than oil. Kinda dumb having so many junction boxes on the 1800 series imo.

Also, who thought putting the extinguisher on the engine compartment? I guess if the engine goes up maybe the extinguisher will blow up and put the fire out.

 

[BobRip]

The plastic clear fuel line is recommended by PT to be replaced every year. I put a regular gas line in its place.

 

[SpringHollow]

Any of these mowers used for DOT work, etc require an extinguisher.

Ken

 

[coolconnection]

Thanks for all the replies. I kept seeing in different threads about people adding the fire extinguisher but really no reason why. I did read the one thread about the PT that caught fire and how he brought it back to life but that was the only one. I think when it comes time to replace the fuel line with a new one I might put in an inline fuel shut off valve. Now it makes sense to me why an extinguisher is prudent. So what type of extinguisher would be best to use and what location have you all installed yours in?

BobRip do you still change your fuel line every year with a new one or is the replacement line really not necessary to replace every year?

Thanks for all the replies it is well appreciated.

 

[KentT]

Mine's mounted on the right FOPS/ROPS post. It is a general-purpose, Type ABC, good for either electrical or flammable liquids.

PTRich had just used duct tape to tape the wall-mounting bracket to the post. I've simply refreshed that duct tape, and wrapped the whole post with electrical tape (similar to the way we used to tape the handles on baseball bats), since I also ran wires to canopy-mounted lights up the inside of each upright.

BTW, in this pic you can see the proximity of the clear (actually opaque white) plastic gas tank to the Kohler engine on my 2001 model. The hydraulic tank is under the seat, at the front of the rear tub, but there's several hydraulic lines in the engine compartment itself, where they attach to the pumps, rear wheel motors, front PTO solenoid valve, etc.

The newer PT's moved the engine farther back, with all the pumps in front -- but unfortunately, that puts the hot muffler up front, closer to the gas tank. On the Kohlers, the exhaust is on the rear of the engine, above the PTO and steering/lift/tilt/Aux PTO pump. The tram pump is on the other end of the engine, underneath the gas tank.

 

[EddieWalker]

EXAMPLE: When I was clearing my lot, the contractor had a hydraulic line burst on a 20-ton excavator, spraying fluid onto the muffler and caught on fire

I don't know very much about these machines, but I'm surprised that a hydraulic line was run near the exhaust. From the machines that I've seen, I've never noticed this. Was it a metal line or a rubber one?

From what I understand, excavator fires are mostly caused by operators not realizing how hot the machine is while feeding the fire. They are sitting inside an air conditioned machine and it's getting hotter and hotter outside the machine. Eventually, the hoses melt through and catch on fire, or some exposed grease on the outside of the machine ignites.

It does seem to be fairly common with excavators and this seems to be the most common reason that I've heard of.

Of course, it could just be coincidence that a hose broke while feeding the fire and the burn pile had nothing to do with the fire, but then again, maybe it was the cause.

As for keeping a fire extinguisher in a tractor, it's cheap insurance. A hot engine and some grease or oil is all it takes if conditions are right. Add some wind to feed it and it just keeps getting worse.

I have one on all my tractors. So far, I've never needed them.

Eddie

 

[MossRoad]

I always carried a fire extinguisher in my old IH machine and I just kind of transitioned to adding one on my PT. I do a lot of mowing and brush hogging. In any tractor, grass and debris will build up in the engine compartment. Hey, bad things can happen. Besides, it looks cool, too.