Lost a friend's tractor while baling hay this afternoon.

[1911sw45]

I was baling hay for a friend with his tractor this evening. When a gas leak around the sediment bowl caught fire. Got the haywagon and baler unhooked and pulled away. Got some burns on my right wrist. Tried to put it out with 2 fire extinguishers, but it kept catching fire from the heat. We knew the tractor was gone and just watched it burn. The fire department shows up almost an hour later. It done burned its self out by then. He has had this tractor over 30 years. So here what it looks like.

109825109826109827109828109829109830

Just glad not one was hurt.

Ps His neighbor came and pulled the baler back away. Then went and got his tractor and finished baling his hay. You can see it in the fifth photo in the back ground. Its great to have real neighbors.

1911sw45

[osteodoc08]

Glad no one was hurt. Objects can be replaced. A good tractor is a necessity around there it seems.

[Hardcast416taylor]

From the color and the general shape I`d guess this was a Massey-Ferguson tractor. If you attempt any kind of ag work a tractor IS a necessity.Robert

[1911sw45]

That is the main thing is that no one was hurt. Yes a good tractor is a necessity. Just hoping his farm insurance will replace it. He don't want a new one but find an old one like it will be a hard roll to hoe. It was hard just watching her burn, noing that nothing could stop it after it started to burn.

1911sw45

[1911sw45]

Yes it was an 135 Massey-Ferguson gas.

1911sw45

[leeggen]

Looks like a winter project to me. I'm betting it can be rebuilt.
CD

[1911sw45]

Yeah if you can find a good center section of the tractor. IE the block and head. The tractor did not have more than 400 hrs since it was rebuilt.

1911sw45

[country gent]

There are alot that will rebuild that tractor. I had a farmall cub with belly mower plow disc and cultivator I used it 20 years and it sold for more than I gave for it at the auction house when I replaced it.

[1911sw45]

Yes you can almost rebuild any thing. But the fire got hot and no telling what it done to the transmission bearings, hydraulic pump and all the other stuff too. It would cost more than replacing it and more than its worth to the insurance company. Plus with your 75 yrs old you dont have a lot of extra money to spend too.

1911sw45

[Cmm_3940]

If your friend doesn't want to rebuild it, whatever you do, don't just junk it. Used parts for those old tractors can be worth a lot of money.

[John Allen]

Well, that sucks

[Bullwolf]

Ouch that must have been distressing to watch it burn. I would have also felt somewhat helpless not being able to stop it.

I once watched a vehicle (a Volkswagen beetle) burn down to the tires alongside of the road. We did not have a fire extinguisher in the car, and there was nothing to do about it. That lesson really stuck with me, and everything I drive has a fire extinguisher inside now, but as you said you couldn't put that out with a fire extinguisher anyways.

I dead shorted the battery cable on my Ford 3910 on the Ranch a few weeks ago just closing the hood. Fortunately I managed to peel off the battery cable before it completely caught on fire. It simply arced a lot, melted some insulation and tried to weld itself to the hood. It did however cause me to relocate the battery and terminals.

As others have said at least no one was hurt badly, and things can always be replaced.


- Bullwolf

[fatboy]

petes tractor salvage, anamoose ND, will ship anywhere in the US. they have at least a hundred acres of parts.

[bruce drake]

Sorry to hear this as I grew up working with a Massey on a truck farm in Maine. I'm sure all the accessory items like the bailer and cutter bar were already figured for the Massey.

Brother,
Have your friend check out this link to a search for used Massey-Fergs in Midwest. Then give these prices to his insurance agent and I bet his Farm Insurance should cover replacement as the other option is that he claims loss of his crops this year which would require his agent to pay out on probably 2 hay harvests and whatever else he may have planted this spring...They see the $$$$ when you mention having to call in the marker on the crop insurance to the tune of several hundred thousand from most working farms.
http://www.usfarmer.com/#/?search=Massey+Ferguson+135

A tractor is a must to operate the size of farms that are profitable in this day and age.

For the neighbor. He did what is expected of a good neighbor. He became a great neighbor when he helped finish the day's harness and helped out without being concerned abut his own hay harvest potentially being delayed.

And I am glad you didn't get hurt...but it looks like half your beard got too close to the fire...

Bruce

[1911sw45]

bruce drake,
His neighbor was on his way to town with his wife to go out and eat. He delayed that till the hay was in the barn. My friend told him not to do it, but go to town with the wife but his neighbor would not have it.

LoL that was taken years ago when I shaved and stopped to have fun with my daughter about it.

Monday will be the start to the process of trying to recover on the tractor with the insurance co.

1911sw45

[1911sw45]

I know all about how much used tractor part can go for. And how much more new parts are if you can even get them any more. I can show you an empty wallet when it comes to buying parts for these old tractors.

1911sw45

[MaryB]

There is a tractor junk yard in MN on the junction of US 212 and MN15 I think... cheap parts. Can't think of the name of the place but 40 acres of parts. Watched that happen to a $250k combine in high school. I was driving grain truck when the combine went up. We dumped 7 fire extinguishers on it and all we did was kept it off the field. Combine was a total loss.Custom combine crew so it meant we were down to 4 instead of 5 so not totally crippling but the paycheck took a hit that summer. I was driving grain truck back to the elevator to earn some extra cash.

[waksupi]

This happened a couple years ago at one of my friend's neighbors. Leased harvester, fortunately insured. $580,000 BBQ.
109853

[buckwheatpaul]

1911sw45...glad you were not hurt too badly.....I haven't seen a lot of tractors burn but I have seen a lot of round balers burn up when bailing hay.....generally a frozen bearing issue causes that problem with improperly maintained balers.....you did all you could do and you were brave to disconnect the baler from the tractor.....hope your burns are not bad and heal quickly....I thank God you and no one was seriously hurt!

[doc1876]

I donno, I have seen a lot of burnt equipment salvaged, and usually they are not as bad as it seems when you get into the teardown. Good Luck. and isn't; there a tractor junk yard near the ten/ky boarder going north on 24? I seem to remember seeing one when I went to Ga. a couple of years ago.

[schutzen]

I'm really glad no one was severely injured. 35 years ago one of my neighbors burned with his tractor. He was an older gentleman and was apparently unable to get off the tractor before the gas tank bleve'ed. I also know exactly how you feel. I was bush hogging yesterday and managed to unleash a trapped limb. Fortunately the tractor absorbed the blow. Lost the steering wheel, steering column, steering pump, and hydraulic reverser lever. Probably $1000 or better in damages, but no medical bills. I was amazed that a 6" limb could fall in a position to have that much trapped energy. I guess I nudged it with the tractor tire and pushed it loose. It was quite a surprise.


If you are looking for parts, try: Boot Heel Tractor Parts in SE Missouri (New Madrid I think) They have been good to me good to me over the years and will ship to you. Check out their web site.

Bootheel Tractor Parts 725 E. Washington St East Prairie MO 63845 573-649-3489

[WILCO]

Got the haywagon and baler unhooked and pulled away.

Great job on doing a Chuck Yeager! Fight for control and then bail out! Glad you made it with minor burns.

[baogongmeo]

A friend's truck had an engine fire several years ago. I thought that it was a total loss...he rewired what was burned and replaced the carburetor(it melted),distributer,vaccum hoses,belts,valve cover gasket,and I think the alternator and drove the truck for several years as his daily driver.I don't think that the fire caused any internal damage to the engine or tranny.

[JeffinNZ]

Shame. I have spend many happy hours on little MF's like that.

[Houndog]

It looks to me like the perfect time to update the tractor! I just bought a Massey 243 (the same physical size as the 135) diesel with a Massey front end loader and only 900 hours on the meter for $8,000 dollars! I don't know where you live, but midsize tractors around here are selling cheap. It seems like people either want small garden tractors or 75 horsepower and larger. The 243 Massey has 52 horsepower and suits my needs. It even pulled the neighbor's 4X5 Vermeer round baler just fine!

[Hamish]

My condolences to your friend, thats a hard way to go for a great tractor. (Owned a TO-35 M-H Ferguson many years)

There are a couple of tractor parts yards in Sikeston, Missouri that would put a small town to shame for sheer size,,,,

[9w1911]

Now you have your own custom bullet trap!! win win

[Petrol & Powder]

It's just stuff.
Stuff can be replaced.

I don't know much about MF but we had an old Ford 8N that looked similar in construction, tank on top, engine/center section/rear. My uneducated guess would be that the burned components will cost more to replace than the tractor is worth but the un-burned components have the most value. If you have another MF of the same type, you now have spares. If not, you might do fairly well parting it out.

Gravity feed fuel systems are simple and don't require fuel pumps. They're great when nothing leaks but a huge problem when something does leak! It's impossible to stop the flow of fuel in a fire. A previous posting mentioned a VW fire. I loved the old air-cooled VW's but when they caught fire the fuel would feed the fire until that magnesium block started burning. Once that block was burning you weren't going to put it out until there was nothing left.

I don't think you could have done anything more than you did. You saved the other equipment, that's about all you could hope for with that gravity feed gasoline fire-tender.

[dakotashooter2]

Not nearly as much to burn on those as on the new tractors. mainly fuel, paint and wires. probably salvagable.

[pressonregardless]

I bet once you get her cleaned up, get the wiring & hoses replaced, change oil & whatnot, you'll find that she may not be pretty, but will still work just fine.

[1911sw45]

Just found out my friends insurance will not cover the tractor. Because it was not listed on the insurance. He has Kentucky Farm Bureau insurance. Please check your insurance policies. It was to cover any thing on his farm.

1911sw45

[Deliverator]

When I read the title I was thinking "How does one lose a tractor in hay?" Then I read the post and was saddened by the loss of a great machine.

[Hardcast416taylor]

We had a M/F 35 on our farms along with 2 much larger M/F`s for the heavier work. That little 35 saw more general usage that the other tractors just because of it`s guts and smaller size to get around tight places. Had a Ford 8N for other small jobs, but the 35 was always first choice.Robert

[Mk42gunner]

Since the insurance won't cover it; I would at least try to get it working again. If the rotating assemblies will still rotate, he might luck out and only have to replace wiring (and the sediment bowl gasket).

A pretty good mechanic told me years ago while we were looking at an engine in a burned Chevy pickup that as long as the valve cover gaskets hadn't burnt, the engine was probably okay.

Robert

[Bullfrog]

Glad you were not seriously hurt. I had a friend catch fire in a similar situation and he was badly burned. He is all recovered now, but it was hit and miss with infection.