Insurance 2014 Kabota RTV 900 fire total loss

[DianneInVA]

2014 Kabota RTV 900 fire total loss. I was mucking out after the cattle, and the hay/dry manure combusted. I know there was a recall on the 1100, but has anyone else heard of this? Thank you

 

[Tx Jim]

Sorry for your loss. I hope you had insurance on the RTV 900.

 

[riptides]

2014 Kabota RTV 900 fire total loss. I was mucking out after the cattle, and the hay/dry manure combusted. I know there was a recall on the 1100, but has anyone else heard of this? Thank you

Was it in a building, or standalone with the bed full?

 

[Jstpssng]

The only recall listed on the 900 was for a faulty seatbelt fastener.
https://www.kubotausa.com/service-support/safety/safety-notices

 

[RickB]

Those are safety related recalls only. There are several (many?) recalls for RTVs that are not called out.

 

[DianneInVA]

As stated, the machine was a total loss. Cause was debris had gotten under the bed and ignited on the hot exhaust area.
I had been using the FEL on my tractor to muck out hay and dry manure; loaded buckets on to the RTV bed and drove it over to a "compost" location. Did this several times. Stowed the tractor and loaded the bed of the RTV with pasture mix, and was out seeding (Its only a few acres) and realized the machine was smoking, Drove it back, By then it was on fire. Could have been so much worse, no injuries and it wasn't parked in the shed. Had it have smoldered inside, the 60X80 shed, tractor, hay and wagon, pickup trucks could have all been lost.
As it was, the hydraulic had quit, so we had to winch the bed open; fuel tank, all wires and harness melted. Probably messed up the transmission, too. But no injuries.
I realize the recall was on the 1100 not the 900, but it's pretty similar.
Really don't know how this could have been avoided with the design at the time; new models have some modifications. Insurance covered (most) and I am upgrading to the 1100 because of the heated cab and option to have a front PTO. It get's pretty cold up here, and a front snow-blower would be nice...someday.

The 900 has had two recent safety recalls: seatbelt and can't remember the other right now as my serial # wasn't affected.
I am going to carry a fire extinguisher when the new one gets delivered. This was bad.

 

[DianneInVA]

It was not in a building yet. I had just finished in the field and was loading up some beet pulp (which got smoked). The hay/cow flops smoldered for quite a while before combustion. One had even fallen in the pasture: started a small fire, but was able to stomp that out. It could have been MUCH worse.

 

[riptides]

It was not in a building yet. I had just finished in the field and was loading up some beet pulp (which got smoked). The hay/cow flops smoldered for quite a while before combustion. One had even fallen in the pasture: started a small fire, but was able to stomp that out. It could have been MUCH worse.

Ok, sorry for your loss.

I have an original year of introduction RTV 900. The bed has some holes in it from rusting through. I have had material on the engine/transmission areas, but have never been unfortunate enough to have anything start smoldering or smoking. I will be more aware of that now.

 

[DianneInVA]

I bought the best, and hope it would last a lifetime. I think it will be nice to have if you can g I bought the best, and hope it would last a lifetime. I think it will be nice to have a heated cab

 

[rd_macgregor]

I bought the best, and hope it would last a lifetime. I think it will be nice to have if you can g I bought the best, and hope it would last a lifetime. I think it will be nice to have a heated cab

I've read about this issue before, so my wife and I are really careful when filling the bed of our 1100 with horse manure and bedding. Just to be on the safe side, I (mostly) just haul tools in the bed and manure in our MUTS.