Garden tractor woes

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Rooba

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Garden tractor woes
« on: June 09, 2010, 11:35 »
Has anyone had experience with warranties on new garden machinery?
I bought an MTD lawn tractor from Tesco Direct last July. A few days ago the deck drivebelt snappled. Manufacturer says belt probably isn't covered and has to be inspected by a dealer to make sure it wasn't 'operator error'. The machine is less than 12 months old and has been used perfectly correctly. My local dealer (who has a dodgy reputation) said he will charge me for the inspection - and the repair - if he decides I used the machine 'incorrectly'. This just seems like an easy way for the manufacturer to duck responsiblity. Can this be legal?

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Gwiz

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Re: Garden tractor woes
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2010, 06:05 »
Experience tells me that drive belts are hardly ever covered by a warranty. The most usual reason a belt will snap is because it is put under too much load, for example, a belt drive on a cutter deck my overheat and snap because the operator is trying to cut long grass down in one pass rather than going over at a high setting, and then again on a lower setting. cutter belts will also fail if the underside of the cutter deck isn't cleaned out regularly and a build up of soil and grass cuttings occurrs. This impedes the flow of grass from the deck, and puts too much strain on the deck.
I'm sure that your local MTD dealer isn't "pulling a fast one" If someone brought a machine to me for a warranty repair that turned out not to be the fault of the manufacturer, I'd want the operator to pay for my time in inspecting/repairing it. I wouldn't be in business for long if I gave my time away free......... :)
Drive belts to axles are slightly different, but the same kind of thing applies to them also. Most of the damage I have seen has been caused by a build up of dust and grass debris that acts as a grinding paste that will eventually cause the belt to fail, or the machine is regularly used for cutting grass in too high a gear (machine travelling too fast) which, incidentally will also make the cutter drive belt fail as well.
If none of the above applies to you, then I would expect you may have a fair bet at getting the repair done on warranty.
All the best. :)

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jimbeekeeper

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  • Location: East Yorkshire Near Selby
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Re: Garden tractor woes
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2010, 15:13 »
I suspect that there is a 99.999% chance that NO belts are not covered ever.

Save the money of the inspection and just get one.



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