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When a farmer runs into a problem on the farm, it’s often up to them to find a solution themselves.
That has led to some innovative technology, which is on display at Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina this week.
Clark Oberholtzer is an Alberta farmer who created the FireTamer, a front-mount, turret-styled water cannon which helps farmers turn their sprayer into a one-man fire truck.
He got the idea after a harvest fire on his farm about three years ago. Oberholtzer has a retired fire truck he purchased from his local fire department, loaded with water and ready to go.
However, they ran into some difficulty when the fire broke out while Oberholtzer and his hired worker were combining at opposite ends of the field, leaving the other man all alone to start dousing the flames.
“He got to the (fire) truck first and he was trying to drive and hold the hose and fight the fire by himself,” said Oberholtzer.
The fire was eventually extinguished after the fire department showed up to help. No one was hurt, but the fire burned away 60 acres.
“Out of that came the thought that there has to be a better way,” said Oberholtzer.
He rigged up a primitive water cannon on the fire truck, but the idea for what became the FireTamer came later.
“Then one day the fire truck was parked in the yard, and the high clearance sprayer was parked behind it, and the two kind of silhouetted each other and I just said, ‘Wow, these two need to go together,’ ” he said.
The FireTamer connects to the tank and pump from the high clearance sprayer. The nozzle is controlled by a wireless remote and has 180 degrees of horizontal travel.
It’s able to provide up to 100 feet in shot distance, allowing the farmer to keep the sprayer a safe distance from the fire. Oberholtzer explained the installation can be done in under two hours, and removing the fire head takes just five minutes.
He hopes no one has to use the FireTamer in the extremely dry conditions across the prairies this spring but if they do, it will come in handy.
“We, unfortunately, are in a drier cycle right now. We’ve had a lot of instances with severe damage with fires and if you can get a source of water to a fire when it’s small, you have a greater chance of putting it out,” said Oberholtzer.