Almost burnt one of my Fords to the ground yesterday

[Haley]

Anyone using spray foam in a can on combines BEWARE.I have used it for years to seal small cracks quickly on spots where a little grain seeps out over time but I learned a lesson yesterday.I had a small crack under the hopper on the exhaust side of my combine where the muffler and pipe run under the sheetmetal to the rear of the machine that was letting a lot of soybean dust build up around the exhaust pipe.Trying to stop the dust quickly I filled the crack with spray foam.The foam was fairly far away from the pipe but 30 minutes later it got hot enough to catch fire and almost got out of control before I cought it.I smelled the burnt smell and when I looked under the panel all the dust was glowing red and the foam was burning like paper.Luckily I keep water and a garden sprayer with me and was able to soak it and then took the air and blew it all out the back.I think now it will head to the shop to fix it the right way.
 

[rich10e]

Had a 76 8600 white beautiful combine,muffler separated from exhaust pipe, mine did burn up ,never thought of checking something like that,would have thought they would be stuck together after all those years.Maybe save someone else from it happening.I guess you can't check to many things,just live and learn.
 

[Kell]

I suggest getting a proper fire extinguisher before you have to learn another lesson. That water and sprayer won't work on a fuel leak that catches fire.
 

[JDseller]

Soybean dust is very flammable. When we are running soybeans the combines get blown off at least once per day some times twice. I have found that a gas powered leaf blower works great for this. I even blow the combine off each night in corn. It just takes a minute and you are already dirt anyway. So in the morning you can service a cleaner machine and stay cleaner for your day of work. Plus you can see if something is broken easier when the machine is clean.
 

[Flewster]

[the tractor vet]

Learned many years ago that one five pounder dry extinguisher was NOT enough for a combine fire . I was on the opening round of splitting a field when all of a sudden the cylinder speed crank started to turn all by it's self and the next thing i smelled the smoke then saw the flames . Shoved the speed control full tilt to get it out of the field and out into a hay field . When i got out into the hay field i grabbed the extinguisher and started to TRY and get the fire out , by now i have belts burning and all five pounds did was slow it down. I was lucky that i was less then 500 feet from a home that just happened to have a garden hose that was hooked up . I drove the flaming combine close to the hose and started sprayen water on it in a fine mist . ome GOOD person driving past on the road saw the fire when it was setting in the hay field and called the fire dept. that was less then a mile and half away . One truck and four guys came and helped me get it out as the garden hose was slowing it down but not getting it out . A bearing had failed and started things cooking then the chaff got going then the belts . This combine was just pressure washed the day before i started on this farm .
 

[Haley]

I have had a big fire extinguisher with me since day one but have had several people in our area with cotton pickers that have burnt say they just wasted time trying to use it on a fire like that.I have only had one or two small fires over the years and have always had good luck soaking it with water and then blowing it off the combine with air.
 

[Huskers86]

If you can't mount your fire extinguser side ways remember to shake the crap out of it before using it. The powder in them will pack at the bottom and you get the gas out but the powder will stay inside.
 

[Kell]

Dust fires caused by extreme heat are definitely better extinguished by water. Like someone else said, dry bean dust is highly flammable stuff, so removing it is prudent. The best scenario is to have access to both water and a chemical extinguisher, and take precautions so that fires don't start in the first place.
 

[fixerupper]

I'll bet the adrenalin was a pumpin there for awhile. Then after you get going again you start imagining you smell smoke for awhile. You did the right thing by having water along. I get on my soapbox a little too much about it, but I've seen a lot of small combine fires put out by just a splash of water where a chemical one would just blow the embers around. A couple of jugs of water somewhere on the combine can stop a small fire or put out glowing dust before it gets big. The garden sprayer can spray it into crevices if there's a fire inside somewhere.Another thing I didn't know until a couple of years ago is to only use a carbon dioxide extinguisher if electronic boards are in the area. The powder in a dry one might short out the boards when you get the machine going again. They are not cheap. I replaced a $5000 circuit board on a combine a few years ago. Jim