A header that caught fire on a property at Clifton, Queensland, last week has re-ignited the debate about more effective on-board fire extinguisher systems.
With the latest range-topping machines costing in the order of $500,000, there's a need to keep insurance policies up-to-date, plus take special care when harvesting certain crops with a record of sparking header fires.
The National president of the Australian Grain Harvesters Association, Peter Bradley, said he was thankful there were reportedly no injuries as a result of the Clifton blaze, recalling one of his association's members suffered a similar incident last year.
"Some crops like sunflowers and chickpeas are definitely very volatile and fairly risky to harvest," he said.
"The thinking is that static electricity build-ups inside the latest headers because they use so much plastic in their panels, plus they're carrying such a huge amount of in-board electronics."
The AGHA says all the main header manufacturers are trying to resolve the issue.
While all its members are insured, the key issue today remains the long lead times in accessing big broadacre gear like headers.
"Even getting hold of a second hand machine could be a problem," Mr Bradley said.
"The problem now is the replacement."
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