John Deere, on the heels of two lawn tractor recalls last week, is issuing another recall for about 36,500 additional defective lawn tractors, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
The defective lawn tractors now being recalled are the John Deere X300, X300R, and X304 series tractors. The recalled tractors were manufactured in the United States by Deere & Company, of Moline, Illinois; the engines were manufactured in the U.S. by Kawasaki Motors Corp., USA of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The lawn tractors were sold, nationwide, at John Deere dealers in the U.S. from September 2010 to August 2011 for between about $3,000 and $4,000.
In this case, the cooling fan installed on top of the front-mounted Kawasaki engine in the lawn tractor can break. If the cooling fan is not operational, the engine can overheat causing the surrounding plastic to melt, creating the risk of fire and serious injury. To date, there have been 163 reported failures, including 83 reports of an engine melting or engine fires and one report of a minor burn injury following a fan failure fire.
This recall involves John Deere X300, X300R, and X304 Select Seriesâ„¢ Lawn Tractors with Kawasaki FS541V engines manufactured between September 20, 2010 and July 21, 2011 within the following serial number ranges. The model number is on both sides of the tractor hood; the serial number is on the machine frame near the front right tire:
• 1M0X300B++M180001 thru 1M0X300B++M180600
• 1M0X300C++M180001 thru 1M0X300C++M208330
• 1M0X300E++M180001 thru 1M0X300E++M180718
• 1M0X300F++M180001 thru 1M0X300F++M180888
• 1M0X300G++M180001 thru 1M0X300G++M183700
• 1M0X300H++M180001 thru 1M0X300H++M180145
• 1M0X300J++M180001 thru 1M0X300J++M180106
• 1M0X304A++M180001 thru 1M0X304A++M184936
• 1M0X304B++M180001 thru 1M0X304B++M180696
• 1M0X304C++M180001 thru 1M0X304C++M180054
John Deere is advising customers to stop using the mowers immediately and contact a John Deere dealer to make arrangements to have the engine cooling fan replaced. All registered owners of the recalled mowers will be directly notified by John Deere, which can be reached toll-free, at 1.800.537.8233 between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, Eastern Time (ET); between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Saturdays, (ET); or at the firm’s Web site at www.johndeere.com.
The prior two John Deere Lawn Tractor recalls involved a number of models and were due to a number of defects and hazards. Our complete listing can be accessed at: http://www.newsinferno.com/product-recalls/john-deere-recalls-tractors-for-brake-laceration-hazards/.
All of the previously recalled, defective John Deere Lawn Tractors were manufactured in the U.S. by Deere & Company of Moline, Illinois. To date, no incidents or injuries have been reported in those recalls. About 5,200 John Deere D100 Lawn Tractors were recalled because the hardware used to hold the brake assembly to the transmission housing can break, causing the brakes to fail, posing an injury hazard due to loss of control. About 15,500 additional John Deere Lawn Tractors were recalled because the hardware used to hold the mower blade brake assemblies on the mower decks can break, which can cause the mower blades to spin longer than normal after the operator turns off the power, posing a laceration hazard.