Fire on John Deere mower

[lennyzx11]

My Brother in law was mowing with our mower yesterday and came running to me screaming fire. I saw our purchased in April new John Deere mower engulfed in flames under a big maple tree.
I grabbed the shop fire extinguishers and tractor and pushed it away from the tree out in the clear. Both extinguishers empties, I buried the mower with dirt using the tractor.

Not sure what happened. He said he heard a pop from under the front and flames came up from underneath.

He wasn’t in high grass or leaves also and was moving so I don’t think it was a spark from exhaust on the ground that did it.

He’s safe. A little shook up. He has cystic fibrosis and that mower has been his way of getting outside in the sun a little.

I think it had 40 or so hours. I remember doing the 25 hour service in August.

 

[Diggin It]

Hard to speculate, so you'll need to examine it closely.

Guessing a gas line leak, and maybe a spark from the blades hitting a rock. Oil leak might ignite quickly if the oil was hot. Mouse nest in and around the exhaust would smoke quite a bit first and not create a 'pop' sound.

 

[shovelmike]

So sorry about the loss of the mower, I'm glad your brother in law is OK. Diggin It listed the most probably causes. Is there any chance that your homeowner's insurance will cover your loss?

 

[lennyzx11]

I dug it out and took a couple of pictures.




Home Depot told me to contact John Deere.
John Deere had a weekend call center answer it appears. Took my information and I got the “We’ll get back to you”.

Bought it 20Apr20 and had around 30-40 hrs. I had did the 25 hour service but hadn’t got to the 50 yet.

 

[k0ua]

Fuel line, fuel filter or connection or something dumped gasoline on that thing. That is about the only thing I can think of that would have caused such a catastrophic fire so quickly. Wow, talk about burned to the ground. Man there isn't a plastic or rubber piece left on that thing.

 

[grsthegreat]

If it was from home depot.... john deere probably will be of no help (unless things have changed in the past 4 years). I had a john deere string trimmer purchased from home depot, that was dead on arrival, took it to home depot and they said to take it to john deere. John deere told me home depot buys john deere labeled devices manufactured in mexico and they pay jd to use their name. John deere would not honor the warranty. I ended up in a screaming match with home dump and they gave me my money back to get rid of me.

 

[beenthere]

Your insurance co. would be the one to cover the fire loss.. don't think it would be a John Deere warranty issue..

Hope it was covered under your policy that you hopefully have.

 

[Tinhack]

Contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission. I bet they'll want to hear about your tractor. A major recall may be in order if JD doesn't replace it outright. There's no way a lawn tractor should go up in flames.

Do NOT tamper with it. A CPSC rep will want to inspect it. I called years ago when my Murray fuel tank started leaking and they (Sears) didn't want to do anything about it. CPSC came out and looked it over. It wasn't long after that, the series was recalled and I got a new tank. The leak was caused by a manufacturing fault and was covered by the warranty. (The tank split at a molding seam.)

Give JD a chance to remedy your loss. If they hem-haw around, let them know it's a safety issue and you're prepared to report it to CPSC. CPSC has a lot of attorneys. They like cases like this. CPSC can force a recall of the entire product series.

 

[joecdeere]

All it takes is a few of those leaves around the muffler, then they catch fire, fire melts fuel line, burning gas and a melting plastic hood to feed the flames, I’ve worked for Ford, Kubota, and Deere dealers through my working life, it happens more than you know! My neighbors kid was trying to mulch leaves with their Murray a couple of years ago, the same happened, burnt the mower and much of the woods at the edge of their yard.

The main thing is your Brother-in-law is ok, mower can be replaced

 

[grsthegreat]

I dont know, my huskvarna is over 10 years old, has had motor replaced, is used hard and put away wet. I cut tall dry grass with it, but always blow out all areas with compressed air after use. I have never even seen steam coming off of it, much less smoke. The idea that it could burst into flames spooks the heck out of me. I told the wife yesterday to leave it out of the garage from now on until its totally cooled off. Imagine if it ignites in a garage. Yeiks.

 

[Zebrafive]

There were some older JD models when the fuel pump failed (diaphragm) the "weep" hole sent gas right onto the muffler = fire.


My JD 285 needed a replacement transaxle. The donor was a fire victim.

 

[Diggin It]

Imagine if it ignites in a garage.

That happens more often than people realize. One reason my yard machines have never been inside my attached garage. They either stay outside or in a separate detached shed.


Happens with cars too though.

 

[jd110]

Definitely report it to your dealer. Deere wants a report made to them for any fire related issue involving their equipment. Doesn't matter if it was purchased at Home Depot. That same model can be purchased at a Deere dealer also. It may not be a defect in the mower, but they need to be made aware in case it is to help prevent someone else from having same thing happen.

 

[radios1]

John Deere is not a stranger to tractor fires!. one example. John Deere Lawn Tractor Engine Fires Lead to Another Recall - AboutLawsuits.com

 

[Wagtail]

If your E180 is similar to my D110 then there is an in-line fuel filter, which you would/may have replaced during the 25hr maintenance that you (OP) said that you performed. The connection (either side of the filter) may have come loose due to engine/operation vibration, spilling petrol onto a hot engine.

Typically you (meaning practically everyone ) simply ensures that there's enough fuel in the tank, the tyres look inflated and, maybe, check the oil dipstick. Turn it on and then get on with the job. Rarely do you open the bonnet and check every 'hose' or connection unless it's a maintenance procedure.

Which is a timely reminder to us all to take a moment and perform an 'inspection'.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Two points I have to add.

Lady around here once cut the grass around her place, parked it next to her house and went to take a shower. Next thing, the house was in flames!

I have a Steiner 430 Diesel MAX that was given to me, burned to destruction, that was used to try and push a burning brush pile. The FD showed up reasonably quickly, but to see the machine, you would would think it had been in a burned builiding.

 

[buck12]

All it takes is a few of those leaves around the muffler, then they catch fire, fire melts fuel line, burning gas and a melting plastic hood to feed the flames, I致e worked for Ford, Kubota, and Deere dealers through my working life, it happens more than you know! My neighbors kid was trying to mulch leaves with their Murray a couple of years ago, the same happened, burnt the mower and much of the woods at the edge of their yard.

The main thing is your Brother-in-law is ok, mower can be replaced

A few years ago I was cutting my front yard on a windy day using my JD GT235. I kept smelling smoke and thought why is someone burning leafs on such a windy day. This went on for quite sometime. At some point realized the front of my mower was smoking. When I stopped and and got off the mower I realized my muffler was on fire. I was able to pull a big glob of burning grass out the muffler guard. No big deal I was able to keep cutting grass. Had there been a fuel line any where near the muffler and there would have been a lot of JD plastic on fire.

Glad no one was hurt.

 

[Norm W]

There have been some JD combines that have caught fire while working. They are usually a total loss, as by the time it is noticed, it is too late to do anything. If you think a mower is costly, price a combine.

 

[John Skull]

I dug it out and took a couple of pictures.

Sorry for your loss and I hope JD comes thru for you... but WOWW that sucker burned down to the bare metal! I've never seen a more complete vehicle destruction :shocked:

 

[Thomas]

Sorry about the loss.
This time of year with leaves falling dead grass I spray water on deck engine area and muffler just in case when done....never can be to careful.