Looking to build a fire fighter

[Shane]

Grips I would love the SAMIL - but it's out of our price range!

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[FWM]

Unimog

[Shane]

Shane ,
I think you need to establish a set-up to suit
the particular fire-fighting predicaments faced in your
own area/lands.
Ive seen farmers with water tanks variously mounted
on both 4*4 Bakkies (often LRs!) and trailers w single and double axles
Bakkies are probly limited to 1.5tons (1.5kL!) of water or less whereas you can probably have double that vol on a 1 or 2 axle trailer.
On farms in Zambia we generally had both and trailer tanks were usually towed by small general purpose tractor (old blue Fordson !) .
Having more than one mobile water tank also means more than one point of attack and relaying refills etc
Cant remember much detail wrt pumps etc.

As often in life main thing is prevention and readiness
Cut and maintain fire breaks and mow road edges,
and ensure tanks are kept full and equipment accessible and ready.
Farm I was on had Dams for refilling and the irrigation
Systems that could also be tapped for filling bowsers etc
Need quick refill time … not via a hosepipe !

Chas I agree with all of the above.

I our case we spend most of our time fighting fires on OTHER farms - thus the reason I can't spend too much on the excercise.

My plan is to have a bakkie with a unit on, towing a trailer with the second unit, followed by our second vehicle - with a third unit.

This way we can independantly do our thing while the other guys fall over their feet in confusion.

I prefer a high pressure sprayer upfront that can quickly drop flame size and douse 80% of the flames. The second unit douses whats left and applies a light wetting spray while the 3rd unit sweeps and wets down anything left smouldering within 1m of the burn line.

When done this way we can move way faster than 1 sprayer trying to do all 3.

What frustrates the shite out of me is when guys do the 1st two steps - and then you keep coming back because the fire springs up behind you again - as was the case last friday.

In fighting the fires (effectively) on other farms we can then block them before they reach ours.

I have also gotten hold of a product M3T that you mix in (a wetter of sorts) that can cut down the required spraying time by 50% and prevents the fire from flaring up again.

But ja, it's fun & games!

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[jakeslouw]

Can 850L of water do much fire fighting?

Yes. In dense bush we use 20L backpack tanks, you'd be surprised how much that puts out with the correct pressure and nozzle. So a 850L tank with a pressure pump and a long hose is very effective.

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