Fire safety

[varmint]

A couple years ago, I was backing my zero turn mower into its parking space under the barn overhang when I felt heat on my back. I turned around to flames shooting up from the motor. Luckily, I was 8 feet from a fire extinguisher. A rodent (?) had chewed into the gas line, and fuel had been dripping onto the back of the engine. As long as I was moving forward, no big problem. Backing let the gas drip onto the exhaust on one side of the engine.

A major clean up, new fuel pump and gas lines, and I was back in service.
While diesel isn't the hazard gas is, I've heard of brush and dry grass causing problems with hot exhaust parts, and rodents could chew fuel lines, so I finally installed an extinguisher, just in case. Finding your expensive tractor on fire out in the woods would be bad!

Just got a 10BC extinguisher, fastened the mount to a steel bar plate, and secured that to the ROPS with two SS hose clamps. No holes in the ROPS. Gives me a second extinguisher in the barn, too.

 

[RjCorazza]

Glad you caught it early! I keep an ABC in my cabbed tractor, but not on my diesel zero turns. The first thing I put in my new pole barn was a larger dry chemical extinguisher mounted on the wall.