I recently bought my first piece of equipment a Kubota kx71 mini excavator. I am using it for various projects around my timbered 20 acres. I wanted to post and ask about fire prevention since my searches did not turn up anything on this topic. Is it safe working in dry conditions? My exhaust system appears all original and in good condition. I assume a spark arrestor is in the system but do not see it. Possibly inside the muffler itself? I am carrying a shovel and extinguisher on the machine. I appreciate any advice you can provide.
If your exhaust is giving off sparks you've got something seriously wrong with it. lol Just keep the exhaust away from long grass and dry brush, however you can make a spark if your digging in rocks with your bucket and if your fire extinguisher is a dry chemical one it won't help you much with a grass or bushfire, better to carry a water extinguisher or backpack pump, if you have any room to carry it on your excavator.
I agree 100% , if you can light a fire off the exhaust of a small diesel motor your really doing something.
http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/FIRE/guide.shtml Above link should provide you with all the info you need. You can also contact your local Forest Protection Agency [Oregon Dept of Forestry] or fire dept and they will gladly hand you a sack full of info regarding fire prevention info for small rural forest property owners as well as a printed version containing all the info proveded in the link above. Pay close attention to Industrial Fire Protection Level or I.F.P.L. rules as they take this pretty seriously in S.W. Oregon due to the large tracts of industrial timberlands throughout the area. I.F.P.L. level is determined by your local ODF officials who will provide you with a phone number to check daily which I strongly suggest you do. Fines are steep for industrial contractors such as myself if caught operating out of compliance, you may get off with a warning the first time but they won't go easy on ya after that. Waivers are available under certain conditions and are quite common here in Douglas Co for small property owners like yourself. Contact your local ODF office and they will send out a representative to take a look at what your doing, how much defensible space you have and make exceptions based on what they find. For the most part as long as you meet the minumum requirements and operate within the hours determined by the I.F.P.L. level for that day you should be good to go.
Just dont stay up against brush piles while working,,,vines and stuff leaves will start crackling,,,happend yesterday,,no fire though cause I moved before that happend.
You can build up soot/carbon in the exhaust that can create enough heat to start a fire when it gets shook loose and ejected in the exhaust. NMst machines have built-in spark arrestors, make sure yours is intact. Dry chem extinguishers (powder) are fine, but must be ABC, not just BC. BC can blow fire around causing more issues. ABC is good on, hydrocarbons (fuels/oils), rubber, as well as Type A material such as grass and brush. Like was mentioned, rocks are much more likely to be an issue than the machine itself.
If you are in a very dry area and think you need good insurance look at the northern tool site. I bought a 25 gallon weed sprayer. I wired up a plug so I gan strap it on the machine if I want water on hand. It works good. Some people even pipe it up the boom and use a switch so they can spray while sitting in the cab. They do it for demo jobs too keep the dust down. I was thinking of running the hose along the hydraulic lines then putting a bracket on the stick to attach a nozzle. Then put a quick disconnet on the end closest to the cab so I can take it off when I do not need it. They have sprayers with pumps that will spray pretty far too. Some are for basic weed control and others are for spraying trees etc. Plumbing it would be easy and not very expensive. I was thinking it might work good when I am clearing berry bushes to spray Crossbow too. If I do it I will post pics. If you put one on yours please post pics. Good luck!