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How Do You Protect Your Tractors and Farm Equipment

R

rew1953

Member
MY FIL and BIL built a fairly large equipment storage shed about 15 years ago and it served them well over the years until it got struck by lightening during a bad storm last spring and burned to the ground. It was protected with a state approved lightening protection design and installed by a licensed electrician. They lost 7 tractors from 30 to 100 HP that were used daily on their 750 acre farm, a 3 year old large round baler, a mower/conditioner, an 8 ft King Kutter rotary tiller, a 15 ft bat wing brush hog, 2 hydraulic grader blades, the old square baler, 2 tons of horse feed. 15 rolls of woven wire fencing with 250 metal stakes, and a 1,000 gal diesel fuel tank with pump. A devastating loss with only partial insurance coverage. I do not know how they could have provided a better storage unless they went with a total masonry system.
 
Tough break!! That goes to show that everyone needs to go over their insurance policy every year and update it to cover what you have. Chris
 
sv, growing up. we were never allowed to leave something out side. had to go in the shed. we’d really catch it if something was outside. i still pull everything in at night. my neighbor leaves a lot of his stuff out for weeks on end.
 
There are two different way's i can get home from a town i shop at,so i hadn't been the one way for maybe two weeks, but it looked like he had a stack of steel rafter laying on the ground on the ground, awhile back, they look like they are made of 4 x 4 or 4 x 6 rectangle tubeing, and steel post the same size,the rafters are up, talk about fire proof ! It must be a commercial building, going up on a farm !
 
I keep insurance on buildings and high dollar
equipment. Anything 5 grand or less I self insure. I
keep most everything under cover as much as
possible, we get a lot of rain and damp weather.
Equipment rusts and fades bad here. Water seems
to work it’s way into everything, and naturally
enough that water will freeze in winter, farther
complicating deterioration
 
I haven't seen a lightning rod on a building built in the last 30 years. That's because they DON'T WORK, and are a waste of money. Building codes no longer require them, at least around here, if they ever did.

Lightning is so powerful, you think a little stick of metal and a light cable is going to redirect it? After that little cable evaporates in the first nanosecond of the strike, the lightning takes the next easiest path to ground.

The reality is, this was an unfortunate coincidence. Lightning hit in the exact right place and a spark dropped on something flammable. Odds of it ever happening again are slim to none, and I would not have any hesitation about building back exactly the same as before.
 
It makes big difference as to your location. I grew up in New England. If you leave stuff outside it will just evaporate before your eyes with all the moisture. Places like ND where I live now or where sv is, not so much.
 
The building itself very infrequently the source of a fire therefore does little to prevent fires. And steel buildings are generally very susceptible to fire. Enclosed quonset huts especially so but steel framed buildings also frequently damaged beyond repair by fire. Open ended steel structures vent themselves better and may or may not be salvageable.

Our dairy barn is a rebuild of one that burned after a lightning strike. A nearby maple has been hit since then. Always wonder if it will take another hit someday.
 
(quoted from post at 08:19:16 06/03/20) A building with no wood in it goes a long way preventing fires and building certainly won't burn down.
Click to expand...

Might not burn down, but will cost more to repair.
Insurance companies typically charge a higher rate for fire insurance on a steel building.
 
(quoted from post at 04:52:04 06/03/20) I store mine like the equipment and automobile dealers do, outside.
Click to expand...

I've heard the, "cars hold up just fine sitting outside," argument multiple times, and it doesn't hold up unless you trade equipment like you trade cars, every 5 years or so.

Farmers tend to keep equipment much longer, decades vs. the average 5 years people keep cars. Ever seen a car that's been sitting outside 20, 30, 40, 50 years? They don't look all that great.
 

Since this happened, I have wondered if the lightening protection system did not actually attract the lightening strike. The building sat on a hill down from the house and was 20' tall at the peak, making it the highest object in the immediate area. Add to that a metal rod on the roof attached directly to a ground rod. The rest of the building was supported on wood posts and should have been insulated from the ground. Interesting thought to ponder.
 
I have never heard of any all steel building that totally burned up with all the contents but have heard of dozens of structures with wood in them that did.Any time any flammable material is done away with it helps prevent fires.Little fires turn into big fires in wood structures.
 
(quoted from post at 07:22:00 06/03/20) I haven't seen a lightning rod on a building built in the last 30 years. That's because they DON'T WORK, and are a waste of money. Building codes no longer require them, at least around here, if they ever did.

Lightning is so powerful, you think a little stick of metal and a light cable is going to redirect it? After that little cable evaporates in the first nanosecond of the strike, the lightning takes the next easiest path to ground.

The reality is, this was an unfortunate coincidence. Lightning hit in the exact right place and a spark dropped on something flammable. Odds of it ever happening again are slim to none, and I would not have any hesitation about building back exactly the same as before.
Click to expand...
hey were not designed to handle the current of a direct hit. Rather to prevent a direct hit. Study the theory behind lightening protection systems and you will see the light.
 


One note I forgot to mention. The shed was about 15 years old and had a dirt floor. All the tractors that were stored in the shed were diesels. I am sure that there were many leaks over the years that soaked into the dirt floor that did not help the situation
 
The lightening rods were not to take a direct srike but siphon off the electrons as they attempt to build up so as to prevent the strike from happening. We still have the cable up under the steel roof on the old cow barn. It is the highest thing here at 40 feet tall. The next closest thing is the other shed with the elevator leg in it. both have lightening cables on them with steel roofs. the rods were removed when the steel roofs went on.
 
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