Skid steer fire.

[scootr]

Mine is an open station, sucks until the fire starts
Boom drops works regardless of the motor etc.

 

[4570Man]

Mine is an open station, sucks until the fire starts
Boom drops works regardless of the motor etc.

The Kubota and the Takeuchi machines have roll up doors so you can escape regardless of the boom position. The boom drop will work regardless if it’s running but it still has to be able to drop all the way. If the bucket is curled down or was over an obstacle you could still be trapped with the swing out door. Even more so when they have the unbreakable forestry door.

 

[4570Man]

Hmmm...so growing up, did you ever get in trouble with your Dad for ruining anything of his???

Seriously, glad he got out OK!

Machines can be replaced, not so much Dads...

I don’t expect he mentions that time that I broke the window out of his skid steer with 4 hours on it.

 

[LouNY]

Makes a good point for the JCB's.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Makes a good point for the JCB's.

I haven't used one so I don't know anything about them other than the side entry door is very appealing looking.

 

[paulsharvey]

I haven't used one so I don't know anything about them other than the side entry door is very appealing looking.

They have the option to add a shooting boom like a Lull, but it's much shorter; maybe 4 or 5 ft extension, but allows much easier loading of fulled sized dump trucks.

Only seen one in use on a job, fitted with a milling head, for milling asphalt next to curb or to cut joints.

JCB has a good bit of weird or novel stuff; they have a large rubber tired back hoe, that is articulated like a front end loader, and full sized like 17.5-24 tires on all 4 corners.

 

[Gregster613]

My 75-3 Kubota caught on fire today. The engine bay on this machine was completely clean. It’s never even been in the woods before. It flashed an error code about the injectors and a minute or so later and it was in flames. It had 55 hours on it. View attachment 884692View attachment 884693View attachment 884694View attachment 884695

Oh Man, 4570 I didn't even continue reading further yet - I saw what you posted that happened and I'm so sorry to hear this! What a bummer of a day! I'll finish up the thread and learn more about the incident but wanted you to know how I immediately felt! Crap happens but sometimes it's just a waste!

 

[Smokeydog]

Glad your dad is okay. Could have been much worse.

Didn’t know about the inherent fire danger until now.

Have 10# fire extinguishers on equipment and trucks but don’t know if they could have suppressed that fire.

Even with insurance there is loss. Your experience brings valuable safety concerns to attention.

 

[D&D]

I don't know if you guys want to talk about fire extinguishers for heavy equipment in this thread or maybe start one on that topic? With these enclosed cabs, I start to wonder if it would make sense to install something like the ones a race car driver can operate from his seat. Looks like they install hard lines to the areas where fires can start and the driver can trigger the fire extinguishers from the driver's seat. I don't know anything about them myself.

Look at some marine applications too

 

[rockinbbar]

I wonder of the machines that burn, how many of them were running a forestry mulcher, or similar mower?

Those can make the machine run hot, especially on a hot summer day.

 

[Gord Baker]

My 75-3 Kubota caught on fire today. The engine bay on this machine was completely clean. It’s never even been in the woods before. It flashed an error code about the injectors and a minute or so later and it was in flames. It had 55 hours on it. View attachment 884692View attachment 884693View attachment 884694View attachment 884695

I suspect there was a crack in a high pressure line to the Injectors and fuel flashed at the exhaust manifold. Sorry for your loss.

 

[charlessenf]

My 75-3 Kubota caught on fire today. The engine bay on this machine was completely clean. It’s never even been in the woods before. It flashed an error code about the injectors and a minute or so later and it was in flames. It had 55 hours on it. View attachment 884692View attachment 884693View attachment 884694View attachment 884695

Looks like there were four Error Code Messages. But that Exclamation Mark in RED might have meant 'SHUT ER DOWN FREDDY!

Was it running went it burst into flames? Or had you shut the engine off?

 

[Page2]

Yikes! That is a scary one, glad everyone is OK, machines can be replaced..........

 

[dadohead]

Scary stuff! Have you contacted your dealer? Kubota will employ a fire investigator and he/she will want to look at it (I know JD does). They may want to ship it to their facility as well. The dealer will contact the factory and get things rolling.

 

[jdmeth]

You know, it could have been Bad, don't remember what style door the Kubota has, but if you have the bucket at wrong location, with a swing out door, and had to get out quickly...

All skid steers have an escape hatch in the roof. Flip that puppy up and climb out the top.

 

[paulsharvey]

All skid steers have an escape hatch in the roof. Flip that puppy up and climb out the top.

Hmm, I know it's an older machine, but a CAT-257 does not have an escape hatch (or atleast the older ones didnt). I think it was a Cat-257B model, but don't hold me to that.

 

[4570Man]

All skid steers have an escape hatch in the roof. Flip that puppy up and climb out the top.

I’ve never seen an escape hatch in the roof. They have an escape back window that involves crawling over the back hatch which is also usually where the fire starts. This machine went up fast. You’d have probably been able to escape without serious burns but if the fire went unnoticed for another minute the outcome could be different.

 

[4570Man]

Looks like there were four Error Code Messages. But that Exclamation Mark in RED might have meant 'SHUT ER DOWN FREDDY!

Was it running went it burst into flames? Or had you shut the engine off?

It shut itself down when it threw the error message and burst into flames shortly after.

 

[paulsharvey]

I think I've used Bobcat, Deere, Cat, Gehl, and Possitrac, oh, and Takucki and I don't think I've ever seen an escape hatch in the roof. They do have back glass, but that's pretty dang small, and would involve kicking it out, and crawling back over everything. I'm guess at most a 12"x24" window? Everyone I've used, the top had a metal grid to protect against falling debris, and not a hinged or blow out kinda hatch. It might be something new, as these are pretty much all 2000-2010 time frame.

 

[paulsharvey]

Google reveals that ASV has a replacement part for an escape hatch, so atleast some of them do have it?