rcmoser,
What is at issue here is PROOF.

If someone buys a new tractor and suddenly the engine stops dead and will not even turn over, then the logical thing to do is to take it to the selling dealer for warranty. If the dealer finds that a con rod snapped but the dipstick showed the correct amount of used oil on it, then that's a provable warranty claim. A defective part was the cause.

All anyone on this forum has to go on, is the recounting of the story by the OP. None of us were there and none of us can even examine the tractor. Heck...we don't have so much as a single photo. You use the term "burst into flames" as if that's an established fact, when it actually is not.

The entire tale of woe is limited to ONE LINE from the OP and nothing more. Here it is. "My Cub Cadet LT1045 burst into flames while it was cut off after using for a short period"

All that can be gathered from that statement is that he was mowing his lawn for an undetermined amount of time, shut the mower off and at some, yet again undetermined amount of time later, he noticed his tractor on fire. For all any of us know, it could have been a grass fire started by exposure to the exhaust system. Initially, it smouldered and went unnoticed. It continued to smoulder and then ignited into open flames that burnt through the fuel line. Now the fire really had a good source of fuel and in no time at all, the composite hood began to feed the flames.

Can anyone here tell me that did not happen? The answer is no. We can all come up with scenarios for the fire, just as the OP has done. Every scenario is nothing more than pure speculation because none of them are based on FACTS. If your car burns up, it is automatically the problem of the manufacturer? Who's to say it wasn't arson? Who's to say that it did not result from a carelessly dropped cigarette? Who's to say that a modification was done to the wiring and no protection (fuse/breaker) was installed and a short circuit resulted?

We see such "claims" on the internet all the time and those claims are totally biased and one-sided. It is not reasonable or fair to publicly slam MTD in the absence of true evidence that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are trying to escape their written obligations to the OP. Yes, there is a warranty and the warranty states that if the tractor burns, the warranty won't cover the damage...end of story.

One could argue that the OP should have read the terms of the warranty prior to paying his $1700.00 for this tractor and if he did not like the terms of the warranty, then he should have bought a different brand. When he bought the tractor, he also bought the warranty and in so doing, he agreed to the terms set out in that warranty. He cannot suck and blow at the same time and that's exactly what he is trying to do here.

He expects MTD to fully live up to the fact that his LT was still under warranty but he doesn't want to accept the written terms of the warranty that cancel the warranty due to fire. I find that totally unreasonable. That's like trying to get your insurance company to pay for flood damage when there is a clause in the contract that specifically denies flood damage coverage.

The OP has a remedy at hand. It's called a "homeowner's policy". That's the thing that one buys in order to protect oneself against unpredictable losses such as this. MTD isn't trying to foist the problem onto anyone else. They're not doing anything wrong or underhanded here. The warrantee says what it says. If the OP want's to take steps to prove that the fire started due to a defect covered under warranty, then that's his right. If he can satisfy MTD on that issue, then they would be obligated to either repair his tractor, replace his tractor or give him fair market value for his 2 year old, 90 hour machine just as insurance companies do.

And just so you know, the OP took this story to MTF and posted on the CC forum there. It lasted for 95 replies before the Mods locked it down for review. The next day, the thread was GONE. WHY? Because of potential libel issues. You cannot run around the internet making wild accusations that you cannot PROVE happened in a court of law and even of the owners of a forum manage to escape paying damages resulting from a libel suit, they don't need the hassle and legal costs that ensue from having to defend themselves.

Komp: Good Post I agree 100% ! Case of Sour Grapes , Unforturnate and he is fortunate no one was seriously injured . Defective gas line ? defective hose clamp ? defective fitting ? Operator error ? Yada ...Yada..Yada !

Yes, I can see your point, there are alot of scumbags out there that would pour gas on something and lite it off trying to get insurance claims. happens everyday. now I sure the insurance companies investigate and do background checks.

(I can see the court room now)

RC Moser! Did you or did you not refer to the plaintiff as a "scumbag" in a public forum?

I'd like to make it perfectly clear that I was not accusing the OP of anything illegal. In fact, I have no suspicions whatsoever in that regard. My post was simply to demonstrate that there could be many different reasons for what happened to the OP's tractor. And for the record, arson is something that can be committed by just about anyone, including persons who don't even own or have a vested interest in the object/s that get torched.

As for the subject tractor, I think that it's a reasonable assumption that a 2 year old unit will have lost close to 50 percent of its value. At most, we are talking about a $1000.00 claim and most insurance companies will cut that cheque in the blink of an eye after the adjuster drops by for a 3 minute look-see. And if his policy has a "replacement cost" clause in it, then he's entitled to go out and buy the exact same model tomorrow or the equivalent to it from the manufacturer's latest line up.

In my books, that puts him ahead of any warranty that might have arisen from this claim. Now if he does not have insurance, then I'd have to say that he's about as bright as the tractor that got burnt.

"RC Moser! Did you or did you not refer to the plaintiff as a "scumbag" in a public forum?" NO, I was refering to the scumbags that got caught!

I did not refer to the OP's as being a scumbag actually IMO I am the only one who suspects he did nothing wrong and it was a defect??? (weather it was a stuck float or a loose fuel hose put on by 3 world labor) I was answering the follow up post which was IMO leaning to the home owner fault, afterall he turned the key on and off. The manufacture the ones that refered him to the insurance which will not cover replacement cost most likely due to the high deductables that we have to have now to to afford insurance.

Actually I was giving him the benifit of the dought which I seem to be the only one on his side. LT don't burst into flames without something failing. That's why the put the prior to use inspection and the 10/25/50 hour inspection in the owners manual to releave them of any libility of there product due to unseen/unproven pre-ventive maintenance, which they really claim most of the time proof or no proof IMO.

I didn't see in this post where the LT was nearly two years old?? but, I'm old and blind I may of missed it? So yes we could say even a new LT tractor serviced from the dealer with .5 hours or more could burst into flames cause the prior to use inspection wasn't done and due to a fire the manufacture will not have no responsibility.

that's why I rarely buy new overpriced equipment, if I got to take a chance might as well be on a 300 dollar LT than a 3K one.

You gotta love forums. We all read what we want into posts and I'm no exception.

In this instance, I'm not trying to take either side. I agree that it could have been some sort of defect just as easily as it could have been something that the OP neglected to take care of. And if it was the latter, I'm not here to beat up on him for that because we all put off cleaning our tractors every time we finish using them. None of us expect that our tractor may catch on fire if we don't remove some grass that has built up under the hood or on top of the deck.

I already told you guys about his thread at MTF and that's where he revealed that the Cub was 2 years old and had 90 hours on it. So, you can take that for whatever it's worth. If nothing failed in the first 2 years and 90 hours of operation, it would seem as though the tractor and engine did get put together properly and with quality parts that are commensurate with the tractor's price-point.

That is not to say that a failure is now beyond the realm of possibility. We all know that failures can happen at any time. I don't think that you should become fixated on the phrase "burst into flames" because no one can say that is what happened. It might be what the OP saw but it is very arguable that he could have missed the smoldering grass that eventually led up to the bursting into flames when a small grass fire managed to get the gasoline involved.

You might be interested to know that the bulk of the MTF members were totally on his side. About the only course of action that was not suggested was a public lynching of the closest MTD employee or if one of them could not be found, then someone from HD to take his/her place.

Yes... he was told to take the matter to the attorney general in his state, to hire a lawyer and launch a lawsuit, to put the tractor on a trailer outside HD with a big sign on, to call the local newspaper or the local TV news department and so on. Of course, no one was offering to help him pay the attorney's retainer fee nor were they offering to cover his losses if a successful libel suit was launched by MTD.

If he came back on the MTF board and asked for financial help, all those big-mouths that encourage him to sue, wouldn't be seen due to the dust they created while running in the opposite direction. If the OP does have replacement cost insurance and his deductible is as much as $500.00, he's still ahead of the game. He'll have a brand new tractor for $500.00 and I can assure you that would not have happened if he traded in his old one to the local Cub dealer so he could buy the new replacement model.

I didn't have the history of the other forum and your right, we read what we want to into the post and I being older, rarely read it right and of course have my own view!

I tend to believe people when they make statements if within reason. bursting into flames is definely a fuel related fire? I can't question that? I can think it, but wasn't there to witness it. One thing I would never do would ask for something from people, let along on a luxury item, so I can see why he didn't get no financial help. After all I pushed for the first 35 years which is probably why I don't have a gut that covers up my feet when I look down. Hee, HEE!

At the end of the trail he was very lucky he didn't park it in the garage after use and burn down his house or detached garage, which could just as likely happen to a brand new Hot LT after the first mowing.

IMO What owners manuals should have written on the front in big red letters "Buyer's beware can catch fire after shutdown, DON"T PARK IN THE GARAGE TILL IT IS completely COLD!" (now that I think about it it should be on every page! and labeled on the engine!)But, still some won't read or follow the instructions.

Engine manufacture know that 99.98% of there products will last at least two years under normal home owners use even if they do nothing but put gas in them, IMO that why they give a two year warranty knowing they will rarely have to eat warranty claim. Later on another post!

One of the things that I've learned from personal experience is that it is very hard to trust your own mind when it comes to the passage of time. We all go about our daily routines with often little concept of the passage of time. Sometimes it seems to just fly by and until we look at a clock, we don't even realize that the whole morning went by and we almost missed the lunch hour. Other days, it seems to just drag...such as when I was in school and couldn't wait until recess. LOL

Whenever some sort of tragedy or accident happens, we are often asked to fix time to the stages of the event. In this example, the questions would be: "What time was it that you began mowing the lawn"....."What time was it when you stopped?.....Where did you go after stopping?....What time was it when you first noticed the tractor was on fire?"

Those are all fair questions but very difficult to answer unless you can relate them to another specific event such as: "I looked at my watch and saw that it was 4 minutes to 8 so I stopped mowing and went inside to watch Survivor. I couldn't have been more than 5 minutes into that program because they were still recapping what happened last week when I glanced out the window and saw my tractor bursting into flames."

On that basis, I don't doubt what the OP remembers but I think that everyone can agree that the above situation is far different than this one.

"I was driving along cutting my grass and I never noticed anything out of the ordinary until all of a sudden I got this strong smell of gasoline. So I stopped the mower to find out what was wrong. I no sooner got off to reach for the hood and suddenly the tractor just erupted in flames before my eyes. I ran like hell for the garden hose but by the time I got that sorted out, the hood was already melted all over the engine and the front tires were on fire."

To me, there's some real detail in both of those stories that would assist the reader in forming an opinion as to what actually happened. The latter fire was nearly instantaneous whereas the former fire took several minutes to become apparent. When the OP came here and to MTF, no such details were reported. It appeared to me by reading his initial post that his main objective was to disparage the reputation of MTF. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm no big fan of MTF.

Back in the 70's, I bought a brand new MTF made, private-branded LT from a local retail hardware chain and it was a piece of junk. The hood started getting stress cracks in it after about 10 hours of use due to vibration. The store replaced it with another new machine and that one exhibited the same problems. It went back and the money paid went back into my wallet.

So if anything, my bias is more negative than positive when it comes to this company. However, they are not here at GW to defend themselves nor is anyone here from the HD to say what they found when the local Cub dealer examined this machine. There is no balance to this thread and there was no balance to the MTF thread either. What is blatant here is that the OP has not returned to post a single word. Over on MTF, he's a member and has been one for some time. If he posted elsewhere, I'm not currently aware of it.

But we've all seen this sort of "blackmail posting" in the past. I think it was just last year that someone living on one of the islands in Hawaii was slamming MTD over her Cub because the blade/s fell of the spindle and a front tire kept going flat etc. That person posted everywhere possible and the objective was to embarrass and harm HD as well as MTD. Frankly, I find such postings to be absurd. If I was positive that MTD was not living up to their end of the warranty agreement and that I had proof, then I'd get three repair estimates, accept one of them, have the tractor fixed and then sue MTD in small claims court.

MTD would then have to decide to either fight the case or pay up. Their legal counsel would examine my "evidence" and make a decision whether they had a chance of winning or not. If they did not feel that they could easily win, then an offer to settle would be made and the rest would be negotiations.

Going on-line and whining about your problem solves nothing except providing a lively topic for forum regulars to chew on.

As for warnings in Op Manuals, don't get me started. In my estimation, 95% of the people never even open an Op Manual, let alone read it. We are all too smart to need such books. LOL

This thread should get people to check their homeowners insurance. I specificaly have a policy for this purpose.
If god forbid my mower torches the #reakin thing is covered by the policly as a "full relacement cost"...
I cant help but feel sorry for the gentleman in this situation. I guess anything can happen at any time so check your homeowners.

RC: Not Saying the OP was wrong either , just that after 2 yrs it's going to be hard to determine if a hose became loose from normal vibration and fuel leakage caused the fire or if a faulty plastic fuel line fitting failed which caused the fire . The 1st issue may be seen as operator / maintenance lacking , where as the second example would be a possible warranty liability item . I always allow my lawnmower to cool prior to storage within a non combustible / flammable area (rags or gasoline). I'am just relieved that he was not riding the unit when it "Burst Into Flames" :)

My 2007 Cub Cadet 42" zero-turn just caught on fire. I too was about 20 minutes into mowing. I did not re-fuel it hot. I did not and do not smoke nor did I expose any part of the tractor to an source of ignition. I properly maintained the tractor. I did not allow grass to build up anywhere; I pressure wash the tractor regularly. The exhaust exits out the bottom rear of the tractor and was not close to the area damaged.

While mowing I heard a pop and looked down to find flames licking my seat. I was able to put it out before it spread to the engine. Basically the plastic cowling on the left side and the left side of the seat burned (the plastic very quickly produced very tall flames with lots of thick black smoke). Luckliy it did not burn through the gas tank. I'm still waiting to hear from Cub.

Well, what did you find out??????????

Somehow I think a burrito was involved.

must of been big one beings the muffler at the other end!

quote "I pressure wash the tractor regularly."

'nuff said. complainer obviously does not read or follow owner's manual - wonder what else he did on his own.

10/12/2014/6:08PM PST. Yes boys and girls, that's a Cub Cadet last Sunday. The "burst into flames" happened while I was running for the fire extinguisher to put out the burning droplets of plastic from the rear of the engine that didn't respond to Gatorade. The extinguisher didn't phase it and, yes, it was rated for this type of fire. I really liked that tractor. My neighbors were very impressed by the show!

DamyYouMostRecentPosts! thought this was an actual . . . cub scout or something. whew!

Don't worry, that will buff out....
I'm sure that was one of those eyes wide open moments. Hope all else is ok!

Cub Cadet LTX1050 Fire….<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

This is a photo of my 2 year old cub cadet. I need
everyone’s help locating any other people that have had this happen to their
mower. While mowing I noticed some smoke coming from the engine area and
stopped to look. When I raised the cowling, the top, front of the engine was on
fire. Before I could get anything to help put it out, all the plastic had
caught fire and there was no putting that out. I contacted the Cub Cadet
customer support and they were very nice and helpful until I heard this was NOT
going to be under warranty. Seems they have never seen such a thing and said it
was more than likely a bird nest under the carburetor, near the exhaust pipe.
This nest must have caught fire causing a malfunction in the fuel system which
then feed gas to the fire. How many birds would build a nest 8” off the ground
in a piece of equipment that is used every week? It was also mentioned that I
could prove otherwise, so their best guess is a new mower is less than a lawyer
(great company policy). What ever happened to helping a customer in a weird
circumstance?

<?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" />

Hey Twins !!

There are enough of these that all can't be the lack of operator knowledge. The drawing on the manual shows the gas line running up to the front of the engine near top of head and over to carb. This is the area where my fire started or where i saw flames. If the gas connection has issues and fails thus giving fuel source to the fire makes sense. Putting it out was futile. Still no help from cub cadet and have now contacted Koehler with no response.

We just picked ours up today and it burst into flames within 15 minutes of use! They're gonna get hell from me.

Hey guys.....perhaps we should get together by email and see what we could get done with more than one freaky accident.....looks like a trend. You know all these guys making fun about this have not had $2000 go up in flames. And the notion we did this for insurance is as stupid as the statement itself. They mush have never had to deal with insurance for anything before.

Yes they need to recall these. I got mine at a big box store and they sound like they are going to take care of me. I have not directly spoken with Cub Cadet. Mine looks exactly like the one you guys posted. Is there a way to direct message on here? I am new to the forum.

Lets try this as private...must sign into your account and this page shows up for people we are tied to (following). I went to Home Depot and they acted like they could help but a week later it was a no go-contact Cub Cadet. Cub Cadet said they could help but a week later said can you prove it was started by the tractor (get a lawyer). I then called Koehler (twice) and they have yet to respond.

Local fire departments should buy up all the Cubs to run training exercises.....problem solved.

I was looking around for a riding lawn mower and decided to do some homework after reading about cub cadets catching on fire thought twice about buying one. Thankfully no one was killed by these lawn mowers I wonder what they would say if someone was sitting on one and it exploded. Here is a link that I found on the internet about consumer who buy faulty equipment if they have a lemon law on cars then they should help us consumers when we buy lemon lawn mowers

http://consumer.findlaw.com/consumer-transactions/defective-products-and-consumer-rights.html

An elderly man at my church parked his Cub Cadet in his barn after mowing grass and sometime later they heard an explosion and the entire barn went up in flames. All his carpentry tools, his tractor, two lawn mowers!!! Beware where you park these lawn mowers!!

My LT1050 caught fire last night. Up until that moment, I have loved this tractor. It does a beautiful job on the lawn. I change the oil regularly, check fluids, and I always park the tractor on the driveway and clean it off with a leaf blower before putting it away. Glad that I do! The tractor started making an occasional odd deep growling sound yesterday as I was mowing, so I made a mental note to call my mechanic. Finished up after 45 minutes and parked the tractor in the driveway. Hopped off, reached over and plugged in the leaf blower and turned back to find the front of the tractor in flames. Tried using the blower to put it out, very persistent flame. Zero luck eith leaf blower. Grabbed my handy ABC fire extinguisher and put it out in seconds. Burn time about 25 seconds total. Started at the very front of the tractor, but the plastic screen on the top center of the Kohler engine melted too- that engine was very hot! This was no smoldering grass fire- something malfunctioned on that engine. 4 years old. Whether they admit it or not, Kohler has a serious problem here that needs to be addressed.

on many of the vtwin tractors, a fuel pump is located near one of the engine valve covers. A rubber fuel line delivers fuel to the carburetor. After a year or two, the rubber fuel hose starts to crack and deteriorate resulting in a fuel leak. The fuel drips on the hot muffler and the resulting fire destroys the tractor. Ethanol fuel can be a factor since moisture in the rubber hose is absorbed by the alcohol in the fuel.

I would like to report a happy ending to my tale with an LTX 1050 tractor. For starters, it was three years old, not four; the repairman in the service department where I purchased it looked it up and corrected me.

After inspecting my machine, he said the fire was started by oil leaking onto the exhaust manifold, starting the fire. He attributed it to manufacturer defect, and said it was covered. "Are you sure?", I asked. "Yessir."

I was billed only for pickup and delivery of my tractor, which is more than fair. So kudos and a shout-out to BLAIN'S FARM and FLEET in Sycamore, IL for standing firmly behind the products they sell. They have earned my customer loyalty and continued business. Happy mowing, everyone!

My dad's Cub Cadet XT1 aprox 3 years old burst into flames apparently within 2 minutes of cutting it off following about a 30 run. I normally pull it into my dads barn but because I was gong to cut some more, I stopped it in the yard. Immediately after I cut it off I climbed on a IH424 tractor that was already idling (charging battery) so any noise from the beginning of the fire couldn't be heard. I pulled the IH424 forward about 20 foot where my wife handed me my grandson that wanted to ride the big tractor. She paused and took a still iphone picture of my grandson where no smoke was seen (cub just outside of picture frame) and we proceeded up the 800 foot driveway to attach a bush-hog. My wife followed and took another picture of my grandson at that point. She started to walk away and screamed when she saw the 20 foot high flames. Time from 1st to 2nd picture time stamp was 4min. I ran and poured water on it and only saved the rear tires. Seemed obvious that gas was pouring out of the fuel line even before the fuel tank exploded. After reading all the posts and poor response by cub cadet on the internet, I never reported it. Bad news, I already bought the same model (1 year newer) for myself and have been parking it in same wood barn. Now, I have to go thru a 30 min cool down period before I push it into the barn every time I cut. Considering placing my go-pro camera on my 2nd XT1 so I can prove or document it, if and when it bursts into flames. Really sad, because I loved the XT1, it always cranked good, cut great, ran good all around. Obvious design flaw. Now I'm considering trying a Husqvarna, possibly with the Briggs engine just to make sure. Advise to all, inspect the fuel system closely every run and never park a cub in a garage or barn, it's too big of a risk.

I have one with a Kawasaki engine. Wasn't it just the khoelers with the fire issue? I seem to recall the dealer not even carrying the Khoeler engine at the time...

krnuttle has it right and I was going to make the same statement about the location of the muffler. Who in their right mind would design a mower with the muffler located under the front of the machine where it will,no doubt, collect dry grass and eventually have a fire??? I had a fire there the first time I mowed with a brand new machine. Fortunately i was able to put it out before it spread. The manual does mention the danger of fire there, but what a stupid design when they knew there would be a problem with fire!!! I believe that they probably 1. wanted to quiet the engine noise, 2. get the exhaust away from the operator, 3. felt a higher, safer, location would be obtrusive, 4. would expose people to the danger of a hot surface, 5. and they probably had more stupid excuses to justify the location and ignore the fire hazard.

I haven researched it, but, I imagine other mowers have the muffler located down there also. When one manufacturer does something to enhance the sale ability of their product the others must follow suit or risk lost of share. But its just idiotic.

I have other complaints also, I hate the forward reverse foot pedal. Its a nice idea but is completely useless for me. My foot doesn't work well that way and is a constant irritation. The dealer didn't have a machine ready that I could ride before buying. Thats on me! That was stupid of me. You don't buy a car without driving it first. Duhhh... I will be modifying that pedal soon.

That damn push the button to allow backing with the pto engaged sucks and it doesn't change the way anybody behaves when backing a mowing tractor (except to cause you to get ticket off when the engine cuts out). I will be defeating that soon also.

And why do they always put a seat switch that kills the engine even when the pto is off. You have to stop and pick up something in the yard and have to restart the engine. Other tractors have this also and I have to mess around defeating the switch. What do they think we are...children? I will be fixing that too!

Before this I had an old hand me down MTD from circa 1997 and ran it for 18 years until it had a exhaust valve seat come loose. I fixed that just to find out that three head bolts had been stripped and so just gave up and got the XT1, 18 hp, $1800. one of the dumbest purchases I ever made.

So much more to say but just got to stop here. I hate this damn mower!

My Cub Cadet LT1018 caught fire yesterday and it sounds similar to your story!

It was extremely scary! This happened several years ago. I bought a John Deere to replace it and have been extremely happy with it. I’d never own a Cub Cadet again. I contacted the company and they acted like they never heard of such a thing. I did some research and found out I wasn’t alone!😤 I’m surprised there hasn’t been a class action lawsuit over the faulty engine design (gas hose Running on top of the engine). I just decIded to count my blessings that my pets, myself, car and house didn’t burn up with the mower! Sorry this happened to anyone else!😡

why does Houzz send me an email saying there's a new comment... I don't see one... this seems to happen often...

My cub cadet caught fire idling while I emptied the bags. Gas line was seemingly compromised. Managed to disconnect fuel line and no further fire bud machine kaput. Wires burned, plastic melted, etc

This almost happened to me yesterday. I had cut for maybe 15 minutes and had stopped the mower to talk to my husband when I heard a loud bang and saw smoke coming up from under the hood. We opened it and saw the burnt off fuel line glowing bright red at the end and heading up to the gas tank at increasing speed. We managed to get the kitchen shears and cut the end off before it reached the tank. Is this a known issue with this mower?

Thus happened to me November 17, 2020. I was on mine four about 25 minutes and it burst into flames on the front right side(if your on the mower). Lucky for me my neighbor came right I've t.o hello ne extinguish it but thre mower is completely destroyed.

Joined the 'fire cub' the other day. Burst into flames in the garage after normal use and my fiance had to drag it out of the garage where it blew up and caught our car on fire...was minutes away from lighting our entire house on fire. The worst part was that the parking brake was engaged and since it was on fire he had no way to disengage it so he literally draged it.Three fireman told us that if he didn't pull that out of the garage we wouldn't have a house. Now we are dealing with an incredible amount of damage from soot in the garage damage to our driveway and a car that's now probably totaled. Don't ever buy one of these. There's no reason that should have happened. We just did maintenance on it and it was operating normally.

I once had a fire in a chain saw. It wasn't a cub or a mower but what is significant was that it had a hot engine and a gas leak. I smothered the fire several times only to have it reignite. I finally thru it in the gravel driveway and went and filled a 5 gallon bucket with water and thru it in. Cool engine, diluted gas leak, no problem.

I would say that a fire that starts in an engine that's shut off is the responsibility of the manufacturer unless the fire originated somewhere else; or was caused by clippings or leafs.

Wow this continues to be an issue. I cannot believe there has not been a recall or something. One thing no one tells is what kind of engine they had in their cub. I have the Kawasaki in mine so far no issues. Is this issue limited to only kholer engines?

Mine was a Kholer.

Yeah, it's an old thread but I still see more posts coming in on a subject that struck me as both very serious as to personal safety and property loss - but also one post, or poster's reaction was interesting if not humorous which I felt deserved a response...

Contributor kompressor made an impressively verbose series of posts on this topic. Quite clearly this is a topic that was once very near and dear to kompressor and kompressor is projecting as an authority on US libel laws. Here's my tongue in cheek $0.02 on kompressor's extensive commentary...

First kompressor states:

"The OP should have read the terms of the warranty prior to paying his $1700.00"

Then kompressor states:

"You cannot run around the internet making wild accusations that you cannot PROVE happened in a court of law"

Now wait a minute? Did I here correctly? kompressor just stated he paid $1,700.00 How does kompressor KNOW the OP really paid $1,700.00? kompressor made a 'wild accusation' about $1,700.00 but I fail to see where kompressor has proven in a court of law that he really did pay $1,700.00 kompressor claimed.

Finally kompressor states:

"The next day, the thread was GONE. WHY? Because of potential libel issues."

Oh? kompressor just claimed some thread was removed because it was potential "libel". Did kompressor prove in a court of law that the thread was removed "Because of potential libel issues". Or is kompressor just going around the internet sayin' stuff? :o)

Actually the OP can go around the internet saying stuff, much like, well, ... kompressor just did.

The above was meant to be illustrative and tongue in cheek. On a more serious note kompressor states:

"Yes, there is a warranty and the warranty states that if the tractor burns, the warranty won't cover the damage...end of story."

All consumer warranties are subject to FTC regulations. I do not agree that it is the 'end of story' and do not believe it is true if the fire results from defective materials or design. Nor do I believe kompressor's statement to be true if it is a larger safety issue. Establishing this is of course a different matter.

There is a very good up side to the OP (and others) sharing of his experience (or "wild accusation" as you will). Others may come forth with their own, uh, "wild accusations". Enough "wild accusations" and a statistically viable pattern might emerge that could be directed to the CPSC to take notice and open a case, maybe even induce a recall for a modification or something. A group may have greater influence. Maybe word gets out and people start taking extra precautions and that averts a potential injury, house fire etc. Maybe the manufacturer takes notice and identifies a potential problem and takes voluntary steps to address it. kompressor is correct in one regard - we just don't now the specifics of any one instance. Yet. But if we suppress the sharing of information because someone goes around on the internet saying stuff like "libel" we likely never will either.

Safe mowing everyone!

This happened to my 2010 Z-Force S60 yesterday. Scared the hell out of me. I was about 30 minutes into mowing when I noticed flames behind me. I shut down the mower and jumped off. Local FD showed up in 15 minutes and put out the brush fires and what was left of the mower fire. Never had anything close to this happen in the 12 years I have been using the mower. Regular annual maintenance and removal of debris after every mow. Weird.

Same .issues. I . 4 it's .

20 mins . Thing . there's story's . Professional I . ! Don't .@.

It's . very . @ HKatndog@hotmail.com I'll in for I