Kubota M5660SUHD caught on fire (60hrs)!

[Torvy]

I wish the op the best on this.

but we really need to figure out how and why with evidence vs.'fire no warranty' attitude that the dealer seems to have.

Probably because most fire damage is either caused by something other than workmanship or cannot be determined due to the extent of the damage. Default position on a fire is insurance, not warranty. The dealer is doing the normal, rational thing here.

It COULD be workmanship in some way, but that's a stretch. Especially, since we know the OP did not do the 50 hour oil change. This could indicate that other things may have been neglected. While not likely, it is possible that the missed change increased Temps due to friction and increased the chance that debris, oil or even wiring caught fire. A good investigator would determine it was missed and void any warranty claim. Insurance would still cover.

 

[ning]

@fbitz777 - in this post you said "They were kind enough to transfer the front weights from old (on left) to new one" and the pic looks to be the dealership's shop - is your damaged tractor at the shop?

Is it even possible to properly investigate the fire at this point, or has stuff been cleaned up somewhat already?

 

[fbitz777]

@fbitz777 - in this post you said "They were kind enough to transfer the front weights from old (on left) to new one" and the pic looks to be the dealership's shop - is your damaged tractor at the shop?

Is it even possible to properly investigate the fire at this point, or has stuff been cleaned up somewhat already?rn

yes damaged tractor is at the shop and they said it's burnt too hot to figure out. Basically was told to file insurance claim (I just did via my home owner's insuring)
Separately the sales team is trying to escalate with Kubota.

 

[CliffordK]

Probably because most fire damage is either caused by something other than workmanship or cannot be determined due to the extent of the damage. Default position on a fire is insurance, not warranty. The dealer is doing the normal, rational thing here.

It COULD be workmanship in some way, but that's a stretch. Especially, since we know the OP did not do the 50 hour oil change. This could indicate that other things may have been neglected. While not likely, it is possible that the missed change increased Temps due to friction and increased the chance that debris, oil or even wiring caught fire. A good investigator would determine it was missed and void any warranty claim. Insurance would still cover.

I'm not convinced that "Owner Caused" is always a valid excuse.

Manufacturing has to have a certain amount of resilience to prevent this type of catastrophic event. I never like the idea of cars with an oil fill right over the top of the exhaust manifold.

"Tasty Wiring" was mentioned somewhere earlier. For a vehicle that is often parked in a barn, that could well be a significant issue, and may get to the point of being a manufacturing defect.

A design that would trap flammable grass seed near a hot manifold could also be a manufacturing defect.

Yet, there could also be things like a critter piling a bunch of cotton and straw on a manifold that would be beyond the control of a manufacturer.

With the amount of damage, a bit of sleuthing would require looking at multiple fires on different tractors, interviewing owners for where they thought the fire started or smoke first appeared, and digging through an intact tractor to look for vulnerabilities.

 

[smartdog]

9 month old tractor and I run it for maybe 10 minutes and notice that it has less power than usual
Anyhow I see smoke out in the hood area on top of engine. I open the hood and flames spread out all the way to fuse box and the dashboard (plastic)
I manage to douse off the fire and all the wiring is now bare and burnt to a crisp. The quote to repair is at least 30k which is close to what I paid (actually I still have 40 payments due)!


Question: What could have caused it (it was plastic/ wiring burning and super hot!)...not fuel related.
The dealer told me I need to turn to insurance co; i.e it is not covered by warranty!

Obviously I don't want to spend as much as a new tractor on this; besides the wiring and the dashboard cover everything looks like new! I am getting a 6060HD delivered in a few days as I can't wait to get a resolution to this....

I’d spend a few hundred dollars for an attorney to find out why this wouldn’t be covered ? Ask him to contact the dealer & the factory !

 

[Sid Post]

Any updates from the OP?

 

[dodge man]

I’m going by memory with my State Farm agent but my homeowners would cover my tractor, sort of. If it got stolen or burned up in a fire, I’d be covered. Burned up in a fire I always assumed meant a building caught fire and the tractor was in it. In your case maybe it would be?? My agent said if I damaged it while using it, like flipped it I wouldn’t be covered.

 

[Torvy]

I've used the same insurance company in 4 states over 35 years. State law has a big impact on what and how coverage works. Despite using the same company with the instructions to use the same coverage, it may not be possible. I highly encourage everyone to read the policy, don't just listen to the agent. If you don't understand the language, it may be worth having an attorney read it.

 

[fbitz777]

Any updates from the OP?

Well I needed a farm policy to be covered by my policy. I have over 10 properties with them mostly farms so I’d assume I’d be covered but it’s not the case

I’m going to escalate via kubota.
Although they quoted 29k to fox I think it can be done under 10k. It’s only wiring

I wished I had bought the exact same model 5660 instead of 6060 so I can work on it myself as last resort

 

[Sid Post]

Well I needed a farm policy to be covered by my policy. I have over 10 properties with them mostly farms so I’d assume I’d be covered but it’s not the case

I’m going to escalate via kubota.
Although they quoted 29k to fox I think it can be done under 10k. It’s only wiring

I wished I had bought the exact same model 5660 instead of 6060 so I can work on it myself as last resort

I'm really surprised you got it financed without valid insurance. As I remember, seems like you said the finance guy made a mistake on the insurance.