John Deere X9 Protected Ahead of Harvest

Chatterton & Cooke Protect John Deere X9 Combine with Fireward Fire Suppression System

With harvest season approaching, Chatterton & Cooke have equipped their new John Deere X9 combine harvester with a Fireward dual agent automatic fire suppression system, strengthening their commitment to safety, uptime, and operational resilience.

Farm Manager Mick Baker sees fire protection as an essential step, not an optional extra.

“I think they should come out with them, to be honest. Most machines need them.”

 

The Reality of Combine Fires

Mick’s reasoning isn’t just precaution, it’s practical.

“In this day and age, you need to cover yourself. Downtime as well is precious now. We don't get much of a window for harvest. If your combine goes up on fire, it's losing money.”

Mick knows the risks personally when asked if he'd ever been involved in a fire:

“A tractor, years ago. I was probably about 19. By the time I got out of the cab, that was it. Too late.”

With fires capable of spreading in seconds and high-value equipment at stake, having a suppression system in place has never been more critical.

“These suppressors are the way to go,” Mick added, based on his past experience.

NFU Mutual: 2023 Fire Claim Statistics

According to the latest numbers released by NFU Mutual, UK farm fires rose by 21% in 2023, with combine harvester fires doubling to 258 incidents. That alone accounted for £7.4 million in insurance claims last year.

These figures from NFU Mutual highlight the growing financial burden of agricultural machinery fires:

• Agricultural vehicle and machinery fire claims totalled £37.7 million in 2023

• Combines accounted for £7.4 million (down from £11.1m in 2022)

• Tractor fire claims rose to £20.4 million (up from £14.7m in 2022)

• Other machinery, such as balers and telehandlers, made up a further £9.9 million in claims

These figures aren’t theoretical—they reflect real losses, downtime, and operational disruption for farms across the UK.

Fireward’s Fire Suppression System

The dual agent fire suppression system fitted to the John Deere X9 offers the best of both worlds:

Dry Powder – Rapidly extinguishes flames in seconds
Wet Chemical – Cools hot surfaces and helps prevent re-ignition

Fireward’s fully-automatic system activates without any input from the operator, ideal when seconds matter. With in-cab alerts, and built-in battery isolators, it provides multi-layer protection for both the machine and the operator.

As this is a dual agent system, dry powder and wet chemical cylinders are fitted. The dry powder provides rapid fire knockdown and reaches hidden fires in the engine bay or hydraulics. The wet chemical agent has a prolonged cooling effect that is strategically placed toward identified heat points of the engine such as the turbo

The network of pneumatic detection tube around the engine bay provides the quickest method of detecting a fire. In the event of a fire, the tube will burst releasing pressure in the cylinder which then releases the suppression agents through the nozzles

The numerous dry powder nozzles can be found in the engine bay. Powder is released through these nozzles ensuring complete coverage of the engine, suffocating the fire and even hidden fires, rapidly knocking down the flames.

The end of line gauge provides an alternative viewing point to check the cylinder pressurisation as part of a daily check for your automatic fire suppression system

This combine harvester has an in-cab monitor installed to allow the operator to manually activate the fire suppression system in an emergency and to check the status of the system

 

Fire Protection Beyond Combines

As Caroline Wilson, Fireward’s National Sales Manager for Agriculture, pointed out:

“It's not just the combines that we can protect. We can also cover tractors, telehandlers, balers… There’s actually quite a lot of the farm components that we can protect with our suppression systems.”

And given that tractors accounted for over £20 million in fire claims last year, the need to protect the full range of agricultural machinery is more urgent than ever.

Protect your machinery, your harvest, and your team with Fireward.

Our agricultural fire suppression systems are trusted across the UK to reduce downtime, protect assets, and prevent major losses.

 

Fireward, Protecting People and Assets 24/7.

To find out more about Fireward’s Automatic Fire Suppression systems, get in touch by calling 0800 151 0249 or email at: sales@fireward.co.uk