Is a fire extinguisher worth it on a tractor

[JDgreen227]

i'd like to add that some of the kiddie and first a extnguishers can be bought in DOT grade witht he metal top and valve and hose vs the nozzle, plus a dot approved bracket. those are of much higher quality.. thus you pay a lil more.. but IMHO it is worth it. we use those at work and it is what I have at home.. they are less prone to leak vs the plastic ones..

Soundguy, I have a whole bunch of the Kidde 1A10BC and 3A40BC models with the plastic tops and have probably never had one leak down yet...

While many people seem to condemn FA and Kidde, isn't having a low grade FX better than having none at all?

 

[whitedogone]

Soundguy, I have a whole bunch of the Kidde 1A10BC and 3A40BC models with the plastic tops and have probably never had one leak down yet...

While many people seem to condemn FA and Kidde, isn't having a low grade FX better than having none at all?

Not if they fail to work when you NEED them.

 

[deereman75]

Hmmm.....

It is a company reputation thing. I will say it was durring lighting a propane fridge.

 

[pacerron]

Soundguy, I have a whole bunch of the Kidde 1A10BC and 3A40BC models with the plastic tops and have probably never had one leak down yet...

While many people seem to condemn FA and Kidde, isn't having a low grade FX better than having none at all?

Bill,
I would say having it is better than having none at all. There is no guarantee an expensive one will work either, especially without maintenance.
There should always be a backup plan in any case. The extinguisher might not be big enough to control the fire, if it does work. A fuel shutoff valve may not be reachable, etc.
Be prepared to run to a safe distance.
Which is more valuable, your life with your responsibility for others you love,
or some material thing that can be replaced or done without? That is the real question.
Ron

 

[dfkrug]

Have a few Halon for specific applications that are inspected and if the weight and visual is OK... they get new tags.

For years... all the car club guys carried Halon... it was required for all cars participating in club events... then it got hard to come by and now they have similar available for a price.

Years ago, I had an engine fire at the racetrack in my turbocharged car.
My Halon FE could not put the fire out, as it would re-flash into flame.
Fortunately, I was able to borrow a powder FE to get the fire out. I then
found out I could not get Halon refilled in CA.

I don't carry a FE on my tractor, but I would if I had a turbocharger. It
is almost common for hi-hours construction equipment with turbos to catch
on fire since the turbo housing can get hot enough to ignite oil leaks.

I would also consider carrying some kind of FE on my tractor if I mowed
tall dead grasses in the fire season. As pointed out, a typical FE may
not be enough if you start a grass fire, but a shovel may be helpful.

 

[JDgreen227]

As this thread has progressed I have wondered about using a shovel and throwing dirt on a fire to smother it...here in Michigan with it's heavy clay soil you would have one (bleep) of a time using dirt for fire suppression unless you were far enough north you had a lot of sand in the shovelful.

 

[dfkrug]

As this thread has progressed I have wondered about using a shovel and throwing dirt on a fire to smother it...here in Michigan with it's heavy clay soil you would have one (bleep) of a time using dirt for fire suppression unless you were far enough north you had a lot of sand in the shovelful.

True enough, but I was thinking more along the lines of a fireman's
shovel/rake, aka "mcleod". That's one of the most important tools
in the arsenal of the state wildland firefighters (CalFire). Unintentionally
starting grass fires is a Big Problem here.

 

[ultrarunner]

As this thread has progressed I have wondered about using a shovel and throwing dirt on a fire to smother it...here in Michigan with it's heavy clay soil you would have one (bleep) of a time using dirt for fire suppression unless you were far enough north you had a lot of sand in the shovelful.

When I worked in Europe... almost all the garages were concrete block construction with a concrete ceiling...

Each was required to have fire extinguishing material on hand...

I found it interesting that several pails of sand and shovel met code... and yes... they did inspect... of course a proper fire extinguisher also sufficed... but, it could not be past the test expiration date.

 

[oldballs]

Now that we have city water with good pressure, I keep a 75 ft hose coiled and connected in the front and back of the house/garage. Even in the winter the hoses are drained with quick connects for emergency use. Of course there are large dry type extinguishers at several locations. We have a fire dept now too vs a volunteer group that had to bring water with them. As to mounting one on the BX,............not sure yet....maybe....maybe I'll just jump off and run....in my case, that would be fall off and crawl.:laughing:

 

[JDgreen227]

Wanted to post pics of the extinguisher mount I put on my Deere 4000-ten...the ROPS is really the only place one can be installed unless one leaves the FEL on all the time. I found a metal bracket that was ideal, it has the top part secured using one of the bolts that holds on the rear lights (no drilling required in the ROPS for that one) and then used a 1/8" hole and sheet metal screw for the lower fastener.

Oh yes...it took 14 attempts to get these d*** pictures to load here.