Load of hay catches fire burns truck

[TomA]

On Sunday we picked up 16 bales of hay with my '86 F250 4x4 6.9. We were about 4 miles from home and some people waved frantically at us. I pulled over to check and the hay was on fire. I had no fire extinguisher, all I could do was try to beat it out with a jacket. My wife took the dogs and walked up the road but could get no cell coverage. She started screaming for help. A man heard her a mile away and came and was able to call 911. The fire got to hot so all I could do is get away and watch. One rear tire blew and burned up. I watched the fire creep up under the truck. The fire department finally got there and got it out before it took out the cab. We initially thought it was spontaneous combustion but I found the cause this morning. There was a plastic mud guard up under the fender behind the rear wheel that had become detached and was riding up on the left rear tire. It is molded where I can tell it was riding on the tire. On the side of the bed there is red goop stuck where molten goop was flung up off the tire. The seller had wanted to load the hay and he had the bales sticking way out the side. I assume some of that hot goop got flung up into a bale and with the wind blowing ignited the hay.

The good news is we have 0 deductable comprehensive insurance and State Farm will pay something. The bed is shot, the tanks are intact but all of the fuel lines and e brake cables are burned up. It looks like the heat took the temper out of the leaf springs on one side. It might be flatbed time. My wife has had laryngitis for 2 days from all the screaming.

 

[FordGuy100]

Wouldnt be suprised if they total'ed it unfortunatly.

Glad you and your wife made it out ok

 

[icanfixall]

Sure happy to know nobody got hurt. Hopefully the insurance will cover your loss but try to steer them away from the amount of hay bales you had on the rig. Without knowing what size, type or weight of each bale they may try to say you overloaded the truck. But 16 bales at 100 pounds is still 1600 lbs.. Well under what the truck can carry.

 

[Simp5782]

For future situations. 911 ALWAYS works even if there is no cell service. It up links to a military satellite for connections. They may not be able to pin point your location so you will have to know that.

Places here in Montana have no cell service with any provider but 911 always works.

 

[sle2115]

For future situations. 911 ALWAYS works even if there is no cell service. It up links to a military satellite for connections. They may not be able to pin point your location so you will have to know that.

Places here in Montana have no cell service with any provider but 911 always works.

Was going to say the same thing...my phone, will say "no service available except emergency calls" when there is no usable signal. It said that once as I rolled up to the scene of a serious wreck so I dialed 911 and it went right through. As was said, I did have to direct them to the scene.

 

[Simp5782]

Yeah we had some kids up here partying out in the middle of nowhere about 30 miles from town and 15miles from no cell service. One kid ended up getting shot when they were playing games and rather than calling 911 from the spot they sent people driving back towards town to get service and then they didnt know their location so they had to wait for EMT and then go the 15 miles back out. Kid could have been saved if they knew that and could have directed the Mercy flight to a general location. Its montana, you can see 60miles.

 

[Sw1tchfoot]

It's always good to have a fire extinguisher behind the seat...

There's nothing worse than being helpless.

 

[Simp5782]

Ive got full coverage on my old beater, its worth more burned than I can sell it for the way she looks like right now. Its got full coverage cause my liability policy is actually 2$ more than my full coverage due to how many vehicles I have already on full.BURN BABY BURN and break out the marshmellows. Just like my one camper pull military truck. I got it appraised at 48,000 in its current state so thats what it is insured for. I can buy the same truck and all the parts and do all the work for under 22.

 

[Midwest_Mudder]

Without knowing what size, type or weight of each bale they may try to say you overloaded the truck. But 16 bales at 100 pounds is still 1600 lbs.. Well under what the truck can carry.

100 pound bales? man you must be old, thats like square bale weight. most round bales weigh around 1600+ pounds a PIECE, some of the bales we had this year neared a ton a piece. haha, givin ya a lil hell.

glad you and the wife made it out ok, haybales SUCK to put out, especially if they make it into the core. typically we have to roll them out when they catch. but good luck with the insurance company.

 

[Simp5782]

Pitchfork it and start a grass fire instead!

 

[FordGuy100]

100 pound bales? man you must be old, thats like square bale weight. most round bales weigh around 1600+ pounds a PIECE, some of the bales we had this year neared a ton a piece. haha, givin ya a lil hell.

glad you and the wife made it out ok, haybales SUCK to put out, especially if they make it into the core. typically we have to roll them out when they catch. but good luck with the insurance company.

The farm I worked for did square bales. It was for a reason though. They compressed them down and out them into cargo containers and shipped them to Japan and south Korea for their beef production

 

[towcat]

most of the west coast still do square bales. first time I saw a round bale, I thought that would be a good foundation for a cheap horror flick if a tornado got a hold of one.

 

[Simp5782]

They do the small square bales here, the large square bails, and round bales. They are almost as big as a pickup with the large square ones.

 

[TomA]

Pitchfork it and start a grass fire instead!

Looking back on it there are a lot of things I should've done.

I did not have a fork but I should have just started throwing bales out the back. I would have had to keep moving ahead to get away from it.

It is a good thing it was not the dry season. It is rough mountainous country and there is a subdivision right above there, maybe 20-30 houses.

They were 3 string bales. I can easily carry 20 bales if I load it and not have it stick out.

 

[Midwest_Mudder]

the only thing we ever square baled was alfalfa, all our hay, brome and straw is all in the large bales. i guess the big processing plant near us uses some square bales since its easier for them to cut down and sell to the people who own guinie pigs and such.