For any that don't want to click through, it was attributed to a fire in the manure truck that spread out of control (the fire, not the manure). Said their other truck had a previous fire also, so I interpret either a design/engineering failure on that end, or the users weren't doing something correctly with them.
Out this way, some ranchers pressure wash their tractors often and sometimes daily when working around combustible dust.
Some ranchers lose their tractors to fire occasionally.
My game camera caught a tractor across the road going up in flames.
The heat kept triggering the camera every few seconds and I have about 900 photos.
Dust buildup on the top of the transmission.
Exhaust pipe running over the top of the transmission.
Large plastic fuel tank above that.
After a hour or so of burning diesel fuel, the hydraulic tank at the front of the tractor exploded.
That produced a couple of dramatic pictures.
Feed truck?
Dry silage?
It happened before?
-------------------- Ohm's law
Not just a good idea; It's the LAW!
Combustible dusts are a real problem. Easy to create time consuming to control.
NFPA has a number of relevant publications. Would farmers ever have time to research this stuff?
[ul]
[li]NFPA 61, Prevention of Fires and Dust Explosions in Agricultural and Food Processing Facilities[/li]
[li]NFPA 652, Standard on the Fundamentals of Combustible Dust[/li]
[li]NFPA 654, Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing, and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids[/li]
[/ul]
One of these documents states (I do not remember which one) that the "action level" for housekeeping combustible dust is 1/8 inch,
