Has anyone ever considered an emergency air shut off for your diesel tractor?

[mslisaj]

There was a gentleman on this forum that had a thread that I believe was titled "you're not going to believe this". He described how his new LS MT125 kind of ran away and surged on him. He mentioned that he had a oil leak that I believe was at his loader connections but all this brought to mind what a run away diesel engine looks like if it grabs another source of fuel. I have been a gasoline engine mechanic all my life and recently I had a friend that had a diesel engine run away in a firetruck that was in their shop for service. They could not shut it off until it siezed itself. Being my MT125 will be the very first piece of diesel equipment I will have owned I am considering building a butterfly valve to put in the intake hose that I could flip if the engine ever got another source of oil. I was even reading in the MT125 manual warning about overfilling the crankcase as it could lead to run away problems. The only way to kill a diesel if it gets another fuel source is to starve it of air. And I'm thinking "how hard would this be to build"? Any comments on my idea here?

 

[4570Man]

I'm hoping I could stall it with high range and the brakes if it ever happens. I feel fairly confident it would work in a gear machine. Not so sure about a HST. My old Kubotas had a compression release. That's another sure fire way to stop a runaway diesel.

 

[mslisaj]

You can go on YouTube and search "run away diesel" and watch one after another just race until they melt down. The smoke and fire coming out of the exhaust are $1000 bills. My MT125 is an HST drive so there is no grinding it down with the parking brake. Seems like a very simple solution to a would be major issue IF it ever happened.

 

[k0ua]

I always thought what ever shirt I am wearing at the time shoved into the air intake tube would have to be sacrificed.

 

[goeduck]

I'm hoping I could stall it with high range and the brakes if it ever happens. I feel fairly confident it would work in a gear machine. Not so sure about a HST. My old Kubotas had a compression release. That's another sure fire way to stop a runaway diesel.

Point it at a big tree before jumping off . Just not one near your house or barn if it lights on fire.

The shutoff is a good idea.

 

[3Lfarms]

I always thought what ever shirt I am wearing at the time shoved into the air intake tube would have to be sacrificed.

Throwing a rag into the turbo is the old fall back. Your probably going to destroy the turbo, but better that than the entire engine.


EDIT: I was just looking at rider7767’s video of his MT125 with the hood off, and it looks like that is a non-turbo engine. The intake piping looks like it’s only about 2”. I would think a 2” water ball valve could be plumbed in pretty easily. I’ve seen fairly inexpensive ABS ball valves at the ranch store that would work if they were insulated from radiant engine heat. The air drawn through it would keep the valve itself from melting, but I think you’d have to keep the handle and outside from getting too hot.

 

[disney]

... I致e seen fairly inexpensive ABS ball valves at the ranch store that would work if they were insulated from radiant engine heat. The air drawn through it would keep the valve itself from melting, but I think you壇 have to keep the handle and outside from getting too hot.

I think I would want to go with metal, besides the heat/melting concern, the suction force might be enough to break the valve.

 

[Deere Dude]

My tractor's intake is near the fan so I would be hesitant to fool around there. Something came to mind reading about this on another thread. That is to have a CO2 fire extinguisher handy to spray in the intake. I just haven't ordered one yet. I probably will after its to late.

 

[Egon]

There are proper "Air Shutoff Valves".

An ordinary clip gate valve might be one choice to look at.

 

[LouNY]

You are making a mountains out of a mole hill. The newer diesels almost never run away.
The air cutoffs you are thinking about were standard equipment on the older 2 stroke Detroit Diesels,
but they dropped them on the last generation of the 2 stroke diesels. My 4-53 in a Dynahoe has an
air cutoff and I do verify that it works occasionally even though I've never had to use it.