2550 broken hood mounts

[dronning]

Anyone seen this before, my 76 year old mother was mowing the lawn when the back of the hood just popped up. All the mounts had broken and the hinge (shock assisted) lifted the back of the hood. The front was still latched.

Less than 10hrs on the mower

Dave

 

[CCinCT]

Haven't seen that one before. But there's a known problem with the hood, latch, and possibly even the hinges that could be the culprit. I just haven't heard of it failing quite like that before. In any case, the dealer will fix it. With that few hours I'd make sure he picks it up and drops it off for free too.

 

[JSharp]

It almost looks like it was pushed too far back at some point, or the hinge mechanism jammed while it was being closed.

What the heck though, that's what warranties are for right? I'd have the dealer come get it and fix it.

 

[TractorLarry]

Hmmm.... Are you sure Mom didn't hit something?

-Larry

 

[dronning]

Nope no damage and she would fess up if she did. I wonder if it had ever been hit before we took delivery?

The ground is rough in spots I think it just shook loose. Several of the hinge mounting points looked like they may have had the inserts spun when installed. That means only a couple were actually holding the hood in place and there is enough tension from the hinge lift assist on the remaining ones, that were broken in the pic, just failed due to the pressure.

I know the dealer will take care of these issues but the whole reason I bought the 2550 was so she wouldn't have these kind of problems - hope this is the end of it.

Dave

 

[CCinCT]

... but the whole reason I bought the 2550 was so she wouldn't have these kind of problems...

Your problem is unique, as far as I can tell. It's certainly not a design failure. Could have been a problem during shipping, dealer prep, dealer delivery, etc. etc.

Like JS said, that's what warranties are for. Don't lose any sleep over it.

 

[CCinCT]

PS: The Cub 50" decks are known to occasionally explode with the equivalent force of a 5 megaton thermonuclear device. Seems to have something to do with mowing on a Tuesday. Other than that, the 2550's are great.

 

[nbtvee6]

ROFL.

 

[DurhamNC]

Dronning,

The damage to your hood is identical to what happended to my new GT2554 after 11 hours of operation.

I disagree with CCinCT that "Your problem is unique, as far as I can tell. It's certainly not a design failure"

In my opinion the whole hood is getting too hot causing the anchor points to crack and fail under operation. Upon closer inspection of the damaged hood, I even noticed the screw hole holding the wires for the headlights had also cracked.

I think the problem is related to the new redesigned hood and heat shield. If you search for "2550 melting hood" folks are discussing other hood failures as well.

I installed the new hood and drove the tractor for about 10 minutes without load. The hood was hot as ****. After it cooled, I removed the top vent cover and the front grill and headlight assembly. I'm going to run the tractor this was for a while and see if it runs cooler.

I'm really disappointed with the new hood design and I expect it to break again.

Don't blame Momma! What you you folks think?

Dave in DurhamNC

 

[Fordlords]

What do I think? Plastic hoods suck and should not be used on lawn and garden tractors that get hot and bounce and bang around a lot. I have a metal hood on my 682, 26 years old and not a single crack or melt in it. Scratches are superficial, and the occasional metal rattle does not bother me. When someone spends upwards of $3000 for a garden tractor, I think they expect a little bit better than cracked and melted plastic.

-Fordlords-