Thread: header fires are common as weather heats up, & the wheat harvest continues

Canola doesn't have hairs, neither on the seed nor on the pods and only the seed contains oil. However the pod stems might be considered hairs because they tend to be thin. Canola is a lot safer to harvest than any of the grass crops such as wheat or barley and if there is a header fire then the paddock is far less likely to burn if the header is moved away from unharvested windrows if the canola was windrowed. My canola is windrowed which is done before the stalks and pods have dried then picked-up using a belt (draper) pickup once dry, with both operations very low fire risk.

I might have some of the details confused. It was about 1980.
I am fairly sure it was canola that he mentioned,
I am 100% sure that he said he emptied two fire extinguishers to no avail.

Originally Posted by bob10

Is there any particular brand of header that is prone to catching fire? Or is it across the board ? May be a foolish question, but I wouldn't know a header from a stump jump plough.

Easy Bob, the stump jump plough is the smaller of the two, horse drawn and made in Victoria.

Originally Posted by vnx205

I am 100% sure that he said he emptied two fire extinguishers to no avail.

I'm not surprised. My fire extinguisher subdued my fire a little as I tried to keep the fire away from the new battery but as soon as the extinguisher emptied the fire flared right back to how it had been. The run to the fire cart seemed to take forever and by the time I returned all that I could do was to try to stop the spread in the stubble. The grain in the almost full fully-enclosed grain tank continued to burn for a couple of hours after the rest was out.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Easy Bob, the stump jump plough is the smaller of the two, horse drawn and made in Victoria.

And still used in Victoria.

Up in QLd we have moved on...

Farm machinery operators are not impressed with impatient drivers.

• More vehicles are on the road than previous years with NSW's bumper harvest
• Heavy vehicle operators say they are frustrated by dangerous car drivers
• The Australian Custom Harvesters Association president wants a national awareness campaign

Farm machinery operators frustrated with impatient drivers during busiest harvest in years - ABC News

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Easy Bob, the stump jump plough is the smaller of the two, horse drawn and made in Victoria.

The only horses around these parts are the thoroughbreds at Deagon. Ask them to pull a plough they would throw a hissy fit.

Geez, what a nightmare! In another life I had a fire start while mowing hay. We had a SWB Land Rover set up with a tank and pump parked near the paddock, but it was a losing battle. Luckily the next door neighbour saw what was happening and came charging over the hill on his tractor pulling a set of disc cultivators, which he was able to use to stop it. I remember spewing my guts up afterwards; not sure if from shock or from running to get to the Land Rover.

'Heart-stopping' header fires increasingly common as weather heats up, harvest continues

Firefighters have responded to 30 machinery fires across New South Wales since October 1 and the Rural Fire Service (RFS) is urging operators to be careful during harvest.

During the last good harvest in 2016–17, before the drought, about 40 headers were lost over the entire season.

header fire.jpg