Forestry Commission Stocks Up on Firefighting Dozers

Wed December 13, 2000
Jill Hirsekorn

The low-humidity South Carolina winters create peak conditions for forest fires, making the risk for blazes greater now than any other time of year. But the state is prepared with the recent purchase of 17 new Dressta TD-8H dozers that have been customized to aid in firefighting.

Charlie Jones, equipment manager of the South Carolina Forestry Commission, said his organization purchased the dozers in January and received them in September. “We have to write specifications for our type of operations, then we put them out for bids,” he said. “Southern US states have specs for tractors used in fighting wildfires and we all kind of work together and develop them. Whoever provides the equipment that meets our needs at the lowest bid gets the contract.”

Gary Atkinson of Mitchell Distributing, the company who won the SC Forestry Commission bid, said, “Charlie explained his needs to us and posed a lot of questions. We made recommendations based on our experience with the equipment, what would work best and what was economically available.” Atkinson said that in order to come up with a custom-built tractor; he just starts with the manufacturer’s basic machines and works up from there.

“It’s hazardous work and they have demanding specs for what they need to see on these tractors,” continued Atkinson, who explained the advantages of the Dressta. “They’re direct drive tractors, which won’t have the tendency to overheat, even when driving for an extended period of time. They have the speed to get into the woods faster, also allowing them to get out of the woods quickly if a fire overtakes them.”

Atkinson explained that the firefighters use the tractors to assist in creating ’fire breaks’ that clear a path through brush, leaves and pine straw to prevent a fire from spreading from one area to another. Instead of turning the soil in one direction, a fire plow turns the leaves and pine straw in many directions and turns it over with the goal of stopping the fire from spreading. Some tractors also carry winches, which can pull up to 60,000 lbs. (27,215 kg) in case there’s a need to pull a vehicle.

The tractors have many features that are included specifically for firefighting. According to Jones, all of them have blades to push the debris out from the front of the operator to plow the firebreak. Each tractor is equipped with a 12-gal. (45.4 L) water tank, to enable the operator to douse a fire that may occur on the tractor itself.

Atkinson said the machines also are equipped with a manual fuel shutoff that’s accessible to the operator. “If there’s a fuel leak, the operator can shut off the flow of fuel to the engine, an important safety feature while fighting fires,” he said.

The operator is totally enclosed within a steel mesh screen that even covers the front of the tractor and its side doors to prevent possible harpooning by falling trees. Beyond the screens, the tractors are equipped with metallic fire curtains that look like roller shades to provide the operator with an extra measure of safety.

Inside the tractors, fire-resistant sheeting covers the electrical components and hoses and hydraulic cylinders have heavy-duty guards. The tractors also include special battery-charging plugs, fire extinguishers and a two-way radio for communication needs.

Jones said the TD-8H model best met their specs. “We try and buy a tractor in the 80 horsepower range. Although most tractor manufacturers make tractors for this type of operation, Dressta met our specs and they came in with the lowest bid,” he said.

“We worked with them after the tractors came in. The manufacturer did a lot of the customizing, then Mitchell did more work locally that the manufacturer couldn’t do, like installing the water tanks,” Jones continued. The Commission has its own shops and installed the fire curtains and radios that it already had in stock. It also installed some tools in-house, including axes and shovels.

The tractors are stationed throughout South Carolina, and some of the operators, who are on call 24 hours a day, take the tractors home with them to ensure they’re always prepared. “We’ve had the tractors in the field for two months now and we are satisfied with them. We continue to work closely with Mitchell. They’re very courteous and prompt in resolving any issues we might have to work through,” said Jones.