JD 5105 Fire

[lincmercguy]

This happened Friday after brush hogging the larger areas that I keep mowed. I mowed about an hour, ate a quick dinner, and finished another 45 minutes. I parked it here and went to spray thistle on the 4 wheeler and my wife and kids yell "fire" at me. Must have been electrical, but the only work done in the past couple of years has been maintenance and a couple of cosmetic things.

Things I did right and lessons for others:

1. I parked it outside after mowing. I usually do this to let the mower cool off before detaching it.

2. I parked it on the rocks. I do this for the same reason. It wouldn't have been an issue today.

3. I had two large fire extinguishers in the shop (behind me in the picture). I used the entirety of one and had the second ready in case it flared back up. One of my neighbors ran over with his, but we didn't need them. I will now have three, and larger ones.

I had it extinguished when the FD arrived. They sprayed it with one of their water/foam extinguishers and checked the temperature of everything.

4. I was able to disconnect the battery without tools. The fire was out, but it shorted something to cause the starter to engage. It didn't start since it needs power to open the fuel solenoid. The fuel lines had burned through already.

5. After the FD got done, I hosed off all of the stuff from the extinguishers.

6. I had bolts and clamps to plug the fuel lines. Don't want $100 worth of diesel to drain out.

7. It's insured. I was very specific about it when I changed carriers last year.

I don't think it's a total loss. Even if they say it is, I think it's worth fixing.

I'm still pissed, but it could have been a lot worse.

 

[Wagtail]

Bugger.

 

[ljjhouser]

Glad you had insurance on it. If they total it, you might be able to buy salvage rights from the ins company and keep it if you want to try fixing it.

 

[dieselscout80]

What type of insurance do you have on it?

Is it just part of your home owner insurance?

 

[Quebecguy]

I'm glad you were able to extinguish that fire before the tractor was a total loss. It looks like the fire was concentrated in the dash/instrument panel area. On my 5205 mice like to build nests under the dash area at the rear of the motor. Do you think you had a mouse nest there and it got hot enough to ignite?

 

[Fxfymn413]

Sorry about the loss, but it was a very nice job keeping your wits about you! And an even better job being prepared for an emergency with a thought out plan and the tools needed to make it happen.

I once had one of my firefighters pinned against a fence by a car that engaged the starter during a fire and was in gear. Fortunately it was one of those slow motion events and no real harm was done, but it points out why you should never stand in front or behind a vehicle on fire.

The powder from the extinguisher is very corrosive, so even though you rinsed it off you may want to go back and thoroughly scrub it down. The same for any other vehicle that may have gotten powder on it.

Purely speculation based on the photo but I'd say the point of origin was the battery since it was so totally destroyed.

 

[kthompson]

Well, you have my attention need to improve my firefighting options.

What is a total can surprise me, but don't be shocked if it is. Remember the front end loader is not part of the tractor. So they will pull it off in calculation. Where is the fuel tank, is in under the seat area or behind the seat area? Sure good not under the hood as they use to be.

 

[Quebecguy]

Purely speculation based on the photo but I'd say the point of origin was the battery since it was so totally destroyed.

The battery on that tractor is located at the very front, ahead of the radiator. It doesn't look to be the origin of the problem.

 

[lincmercguy]

What type of insurance do you have on it?

Is it just part of your home owner insurance?

Yeah, it's part of the home policy. I made sure with them that it was enough to cover it.

 

[lincmercguy]

I'm glad you were able to extinguish that fire before the tractor was a total loss. It looks like the fire was concentrated in the dash/instrument panel area. On my 5205 mice like to build nests under the dash area at the rear of the motor. Do you think you had a mouse nest there and it got hot enough to ignite?

I don't think there were any mouse nests. I store mine inside of my shop and I've never had any evidence of mice in there. I keep a few traps out just in case.

 

[lincmercguy]

Sorry about the loss, but it was a very nice job keeping your wits about you! And an even better job being prepared for an emergency with a thought out plan and the tools needed to make it happen.

I once had one of my firefighters pinned against a fence by a car that engaged the starter during a fire and was in gear. Fortunately it was one of those slow motion events and no real harm was done, but it points out why you should never stand in front or behind a vehicle on fire.

The powder from the extinguisher is very corrosive, so even though you rinsed it off you may want to go back and thoroughly scrub it down. The same for any other vehicle that may have gotten powder on it.

Purely speculation based on the photo but I'd say the point of origin was the battery since it was so totally destroyed.

The battery is in front of the radiator on that one. I think it was the fuse box area or wiring behind it. My guess is that it was a small electrical fire that burned through the diesel hose running from the tank.

 

[lincmercguy]

Well, you have my attention need to improve my firefighting options.

What is a total can surprise me, but don't be shocked if it is. Remember the front end loader is not part of the tractor. So they will pull it off in calculation. Where is the fuel tank, is in under the seat area or behind the seat area? Sure good not under the hood as they use to be.

The fuel tank is behind the seat with a small portion of it to the left of the seat. It was not damaged.

I went through and found part numbers of the major components that need to be replaced. My running total from a JD dealer site was $5600. I'm sure labor would double that, but I can fix it myself and find some used parts for some things.

 

[lincmercguy]

Glad you had insurance on it. If they total it, you might be able to buy salvage rights from the ins company and keep it if you want to try fixing it.

I'm guessing it will go that way. I believe I can fix it if I can get a wiring harness.

 

[dieselscout80]

Yeah, it's part of the home policy. I made sure with them that it was enough to cover it.

Thanks

I need to check on mine.

Sorry for your issue, but your perpetrations kept it from being worse.

 

[lincmercguy]

Thanks

I need to check on mine.

Usually it falls under equipment kept to maintain your lawn, but you'd want to double check and check the maximum coverage.

 

[Thomas]

Hope you can recover some loss.
Seen something almost like that cause by rodents.

 

[ljjhouser]

That could be an interesting design suggestion - don't put the fuse block close to the fuel lines.

 

[lincmercguy]

Claim filed. It is covered. The insurance company has asked that we get repair estimates. My wife talked to someone at the JD dealer and sent them a bunch of pictures to get their estimates. She also has a call in to the local Kubota dealer who does a lot of JD work as well.

Maybe I should have just waited for the FD. There's a nice 5520 down the road for sale.

 

[diesel85]

I've seen where over time wires get chaffed. Just wear and tear and bad design/placement.

Get some always hot +12v ground out to the frame, and bingo, fire.

Glad to hear you are getting it worked out.

 

[lincmercguy]

Well, the dealer wanted me to take it in to create an estimate. I get it, but they want $200 to tow it. I have a trailer that can haul it, but not a good way to get it on the trailer. Talking to the insurance company, they seem to be fine with totaling it given the damage (I uploaded a bunch of pictures for the claim). They asked me to get a quote for a new equivalent replacement and listings similar to mine. I found five on TractorHouse that were similar, but two did not have loaders. They also said if I wanted to keep it, the salvage value would just be deducted from the payment like a car.

Here's the weird part, I have limited replacement cost coverage for personal property. They said if I buy another tractor in two years, I could make a claim for the difference in the value given at loss and the cost to replace it. I get it for something like a repair or a bunch of furniture, but I somehow doubt they'd pay for me to get a new tractor, unless it would be equivalent cost and then deprecation. I didn't quite follow it when I talked to the claims person. I have a call into my agent to get a better explanation.

I did ask them how it works if I bought a larger tractor or something nicer with a cab. The claims guy made it sound like it's something they would negotiate, so no real specifics yet. If anyone has any insight or past experience with equipment as part of personal property