Good run of bad luck!!

[CTL logger]

This happened yesterday no idea why was cutting along saw flames out the back window and had enough time to get away from it.

[thecfarm]

That is sad to see.

[timberlinetree]

Yikes!

[bushmechanic]

Well now that sucks! Maybe a hydraulic line burst and sprayed onto the manifold. A guy lost a Timberjack 608 near here last month, they suspect arson as he was not near the machine when she went up. Hope you have insurance.

[danbuendgen]

Could have been electrical also. Too bad.... I also hope you have insurance. Once a fire starts in a woods machine, it doesn't take long for the flames to get out of control with all the oil, grease, dry sticks and leaves, ect...

[HiTech]

Wow!!! Sorry to see that. Could be sawdust, bark or other debris, it gets hot around a engine. Even a radiator hose, straight antifreeze is very flammable when hot. That surely ruined the day, glad you got out OK. Scary!!

[Corley5]

I hate to see that :( :(  It's one of my biggest fears with my harvester.  I hope you're covered.  I heard a tale of a woods machine that burned that was covered by insurance.  The investigator came out and took samples from the carcass and through them determined that there was too much debris in the belly pans and the fire was the fault of the owner/operator because of lack of maintenance : :(

[Puffergas]

That sucks. I worry about electrical problems and oil, leaves, small branches etc.

[CTL logger]

I hate to see that :( :(  It's one of my biggest fears with my harvester.  I hope you're covered.  I heard a tale of a woods machine that burned that was covered by insurance.  The investigator came out and took samples from the carcass and through them determined that there was too much debris in the belly pans and the fire was the fault of the owner/operator because of lack of maintenance ::) :(

I have it insured the adjuster is coming Monday morning. The machine is on a forest service job, here we have to clean our machines before you can move onto their groun. By clean I'm saying pressure wash the entire machine has to be clean for them to let you work it was spotless 3 weeks ago.

[chevytaHOE5674]

My fear isn't so much my machine catching fire and burning as its insured and they make more everyday. My fear is during the dry summer if it catches fire how much ground/structures are going to burn along with the machine before it gets under control.

[wannaergo]

Man that's rough... I'd be curious to hear what caused the fire. We had a cat 501 that we would have loved to see burn, but even with a fuel leak that we discovered while we had been running preheater the stupid thing never went up. I've heard there's some machines that just like to start up.

[Gary_C]

It's hard to look at that picture if you own one of those machines. Glad you got away and did not have the forest burn. It's my worst fear in the woods.

[Ron Scott]

Sad to see that happen. Being on a USFS job may make any investigations go easier in regards to the fire prevention and machine cleanliness side of things, even in regards to dripping oils, etc.

[Ken]

Really hate to see that happen.  This industry is hard enough without those challenges.   

[danbuendgen]

What type of harvester is that? Hard to tell in the picture will all the flames..
I know a guy that had a skidder burn up, took all summer to get the insurance money. He almost went out of business waiting around for the money. I hope they give you your money quickly.

[AlexHart]

I feel that pain.   Its probably only worth 1/5th of what just your cutting head is but last fall my skid steer pulled a similar move.   Like you it had recently been powerwashed, it was sitting 50 ft from where my dad and I were working on firewood all day long, didn't even use it,  I left to deliver a load at 4pm, my father comes out of the house maybe half hour later to bring one of the little kids home and its totally engulfed in flames.   I had no insurance on it either so it was a bad hit.   According to the fire department it was an electrical short.

I'm not afraid of much but fire is on the list. 

I hope the insurance stuff goes as smoothly as possible and your job isn't too messed up.  Glad you didn't get hurt also.   At least there is that.   

[CTL logger]

This was the next morning after it rained was still burning.

[Ed_K]

 That really sucks, even tho I never owned one, my stomach still turned upside down.

[deastman]

Sorry to see that,  you had a great machine there. My harvester had an electrical fire a couple winters ago but I was able to save it with just the engine harness burning up. Will you keep your head and put it on a new carrier or will you replace the complete harvester?

[CTL logger]

Sorry to see that,  you had a great machine there. My harvester had an electrical fire a couple winters ago but I was able to save it with just the engine harness burning up. Will you keep your head and put it on a new carrier or will you replace the complete harvester?

I'll put the head on a different machine. It takes a couple days to put it on. I'm not even looking at anything but a timberpro too many fires with timbco's I can think of at least 10 one guy I know has had 3 burn.

[Oliver05262]

  Sorry to see that. Guy I do a lot of work for had this happen this spring with a BORROWED machine. The insurance company did come through, and the machine's owner now has a replacement machine. Kobelco ED180 Blade Runner; replaced by a 190 size machine with the same equipment.

  

 

[1270d]

You could put a new timber pro upper on your undercarriage.   They will sell them that way.

[caveman]

CTL, sorry about your machine going up in smoke but thankfully there was no loss of life or injury.  Hopefully the insurance company will ease the financial burden by paying quickly and adequately.

Would it be prudent to put a battery disconnect on these machines, especially the ones that are notorious for electrical shorts/fires?  Not that CTL's machine was burned by an electrical short, but If there are not systems on these machines that need constant electricity, it seems like it might be worthwhile to install a disconnect similar to the ones used on boats.

[barbender]

Caveman, most of these machines have master switches, if that's what you're referring to.  Yes, CTL, Timbcos are notorious for burning up.

[millcreek40]

That really stinks!! How old was the machine.?   Looking at the head it doesn't look very old