Your basket is currently empty!
Bartlow Estate
Yet another brand-new combine harvester is saved by the Fire Safety Stick
Richard Cobbald, Farm Manager at Bartlow Estate was so impressed that he quickly shared the news on his regional farming WhatsApp group. Find out for yourself why he and many other farmers now insist on carrying this innovative compact fire extinguisher in their combines and other heavy farm machinery.
WATCH THIS VIDEO: Richard tells us directly exactly what happened and how the Fire Safety Stick saved the combine harvester as well prevented serious consequences to the remaining harvest.
Bartlow Estate, Cambridgeshire
Bartlow Estate manages just over 6,000 acres of arable land in Cambridgeshire. Earlier this season they purchased a new Claas combine harvester at a cost of around £650,000 but within only just a couple of weeks heavy use, disaster struck.
The fire damaged belts and pulleys repaired/replaced and the combine was back at work within half a day
The team here at Fire Safety Stick were made aware of this recent incident and wanted to head to the Bartlow Estate to find out directly from Richard, to understand more about the circumstances of the fire, and how the Fire Safety Stick saved the day. This is just one of many examples where the small Fire Safety Stick had a big impact on saving combine harvesters costing well over £½ million each.
Due to the mechanics and nature of use, all combine harvesters are at a high risk of catching fire. The hydraulic fluids, pulleys and belts all run at very high temperatures, then with the added inevitable dust, produced from the threshing crop along with the seasonal dry and hot conditions, it is little wonder so many combines are involved in devasting fires each year.
How did it save the day?
Richard explained just what had happened that day during the 2024 harvest season. One of his team were operating the combine, when upon changing direction, they were able to see smoke coming from the left side of the machine. Fortunately, having the Fire Safety Stick (50 second model) immediately available in the cab, he was able to grab it and head back to the side which housed all the pulleys. Moments earlier, he had gone to the side of combine opened the side panel to investigate the source of the smoke., although the fire was still in its very early stages, it had already melted the idler pulley for the main bearings. Luckily the Fire Safety Stick very quickly extinguished the fire. One of the key comments we get from the farmers, is that they like the Fire Safety Stick because it has such a low discharging pressure that it doesn’t blow the combustible dust everywhere, potentially spreading the fire further.
With the fire soon out, it then allowed the operator to the douse the area with water cooling the area down further thereby preventing any further damage from the high temperatures allowing a fire to re-ignite.
Richard added, that they lost just half a day having the minor repairs done. Without the Fire Safety Stick it would have cost the estate a significant cost in increased insurance premiums as it was likely the combine would have been a write-off, let alone the lost time in harvesting at a crucial time. Plus of course, the risk of a burnt field of crops too.
Without doubt that £80 spent on the Fire Safety Stick was a great investment for Bartlow Estate!
Sadly, the consequences losing a combine harvester to fire is well known to many farmers across the country.
Library image
Lessons Learnt
With the Fire Safety Stick team talking with Richard, there were some takeaways to note.
Firstly, they only had the FSS50 (50 second min discharge time) stick installed on the combine. We would recommend at least a FSS100, with a minimum discharge time of at least 100 seconds for combine harvesters and other expensive, high-risk machinery. This will give a much greater advantage ensuring once out, the fire can’t easily re-ignite. Plus, as we have seen in the past, enables the stick to be activated and left in confined space (such as within the hard-to-reach thresher unit) to repress the fire where other extinguishers just can’t reach. Better still consider having two FSS50 onboard instead giving the same firefighting capability but with added versatility.
Also, Richard did add that the operator did have to quickly read the instructions on activating the stick during the fire. Although very simple and only delaying them by a handful of seconds, we would always strongly recommend that all potential users become familiar on how to activate and well as the best techniques on using this innovative and versatile extinguisher well before it might be needed. Not only is there a quick guide on each stick, the user can scan the QR code (also present on the sticks) to watch a short video and additional guidelines. Its always best that all likely users should be familar with the Fire Safety Stick well before any emergency could occur.
