Fire season? I hope not!

The Crewroom for non-FS related stuff, fun and general chat.

Moderators: Guru's, The Ministry

Post Reply
User avatar
Airspeed
Red Arrows
Red Arrows
Posts: 9243
Joined: 14 Sep 2011, 03:46
Location: Central Victorian Highlands, Dja Dja Wurrung Country, Australia
Contact:

Fire season? I hope not!

Post by Airspeed »

Two days ago, I was cutting the horse paddock grass with the ride-on mower.
I went over a sharp ridge.
Cutting deck got pushed up, spinning pulley contacted chassis, sparks flew, grass ignited.
Luckily I wear rigger's gloves when mowing, and I was able to beat the flames out before it spread.

Four hours ago, I was using the petrol powered hand mower on the steep slopes up the hill in front of the house.
I see yellow flames coming out of the exhaust shroud. Immediate shut down to investigate.
Meanwhile, flaming material dropped on the grass, setting that on fire. Luckily managed to stamp that out.
Grabbed the mower and raced down the hill, flames behind to keep them away from the mower itself as much as possible. Doused it with garden hose on mist setting.
Plastic petrol tank was melted across front, but thankfully the petrol didn't go up.
Mrs A hears the clattering mower passing the back door and comes to investigate.
"Do you know that there's a fire behind the car?"
Bits of the plastic intake unit had dropped on the driveway. I hadn't noticed that on account of cooling the mower before the tank exploded.
Dragged the hose to the car and put that fire out.
Removed the exhaust shroud and discovered the cause: dry grass dust hidden between cylinder and exhaust had caught fire. :doh:
Hope to buy a replacement intake assembly, as that was all plastic, and now unrecognisable. Some wiring will have to be replaced, as it's black and crispy.
Looks like I'll have to introduce an annual strip down and clean.
And it was only mid 20s today. Cool for this time of year.

Scorpius
Concorde
Concorde
Posts: 1130
Joined: 21 Apr 2007, 21:49
Location: Bournemouth

Re: Fire season? I hope not!

Post by Scorpius »

Perhaps you should not go out so much?

I need to get into my garden but it is minus 4 here in Poole.

Nev

User avatar
Tomliner
Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
Posts: 4983
Joined: 02 Apr 2006, 12:00
Location: Edinburgh UK

Re: Fire season? I hope not!

Post by Tomliner »

So apart from all that then Mike a pretty uneventful day. :) EricT
Now at the age where I know I like girls but can't remember why!

User avatar
Airspeed
Red Arrows
Red Arrows
Posts: 9243
Joined: 14 Sep 2011, 03:46
Location: Central Victorian Highlands, Dja Dja Wurrung Country, Australia
Contact:

Re: Fire season? I hope not!

Post by Airspeed »

Nev, maybe you could go for a swim with PeteP's wife? That'll get the circulation going. (You won't catch me there, though!)

Eric, quite so. I described the event in fewer words, to Honda Power Tools in Australia. I told them that I hope the replacement parts aren't so flammable as the originals, and please pass my comments on to the relevant people.

Post Reply