A Collection of Current Outdoor Power Equipment (OPE) Industry Related News Articles From OPEESA's (Outdoor Power Equipment and Engine Service Association) Newsletter "OPE-In-The-Know," the Business of OPE.
KAWASAKI
NAMES NEW PRESIDENT FOR LINCOLN, MARYVILLE, MO.
LINCOLN, NE – March 28 -- Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp.,
U.S.A., announced the appointment of Yoshihiro Yamazaki as president.
The company has a consumer products manufacturing plant and a
railroad car plant in Lincoln and an engine plant in Maryville, Mo.
Yamazaki has lived in Lincoln since last April and has been a
general manager. Before coming to Lincoln, Yamazaki lived in Akashi,
Japan, in the Hyogo Prefecture with his wife, Asako, and son, Daiki, who will
be attending college in Japan beginning in April.
Yamazaki has worked for Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. in Japan
for 31 years.
His background includes expertise in Kawasaki’s engineering,
production, planning, engine production department and consumer products supply
chain promoting departments.
Yamazaki is replacing Matsuhiro Asano, who has returned to
Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan after serving in Lincoln for four years.
"Mr. Yamazaki is looking forward to spending time riding his
motorcycle while living in Nebraska," the company said in a news release.
Kawasaki has 1,300 employees at the Lincoln location and 767
employees at Maryville. www.journalstar.com
September 27 -- “Nothing runs like a Deere,” says John Deere’s slogan. And for years, Consumer Reports’ rigorous tests and brand-repair surveys have consistently borne that out for the company’s lawn tractors, which have been tops in CR’s performance Ratings and reviews and in our annual reliability surveys. That’s why we were especially surprised by three recent recalls of Deere tractors announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in just three days.
The recalls affect seven models of John Deere lawn tractors and more than 55,000 machines overall, and include hardware failures for the tractor brakes and blade-braking system along with an engine fan that breaks, causing the engine to overheat and possibly catch fire. The Deere-related recalls were based on information Deere reported to the CPSC on its own and came only days after the company’s oldest factory celebrated its 100th anniversary.
After we reported on the recalls, Consumer Reports interviewed representatives from John Deere to better understand what went wrong and to ask the questions owners and consumers might ask. We also spoke with Kawasaki, which makes the engine involved in the breaking fans. What we found suggests that Deere is taking some smart steps to address the problems and prevent them from reoccurring. But our research also indicated that the engine-fan problem could affect other equipment from some commercial brands.
Engine-fan failures
“Something in the mix went awry,” is how Greg Weekes, a John Deere group product marketing manager, described what went wrong with the composite cooling fan on the Kawasaki FS541V engines used in Deere’s X300, X300R, and X304 Select Series tractors. Kawasaki had modified its engines to comply with the latest restrictions from the Environmental Protection Agency on engine emissions, said Weekes. He confirmed that the fan design hadn’t been changed, but that the problem lay in a faulty batch of fans from a supplier.
Of about 36,500 lawn tractors sold nationwide at John Deere dealers between September 2010 and July 2011, the recall notice reported 163 failures, including 83 incidents of engines melting or engine fires and one minor burn injury. The repair is free—John Deere said that its dealer technicians can do the repair on the homeowner’s premises or will pay for transporting the tractor to the dealer if necessary.
Kawasaki sells the same engine to other outdoor-equipment manufacturers, including Exmark and Bob-Cat—two commercial brands. While there have been no other recalls related to this engine, Kawasaki has issued a service bulletin to its distributors instructing them to replace the assembly, at company expense, when a unit is taken into the shop for any reason. Our advice to lawn pros: Take Kawasaki up on its free offer.
Brake and blade-brake failures
Two of the John Deere recalls resulted after sharp-eyed staffers spotted fallen bolts in both the assembly area and on a warehouse floor, where the tractors awaited shipment. That, once Deere contacted the CPSC, ultimately resulted in two recalls. One recall was of roughly 15,500 John Deere model D100, D110 (photo), D120, and D130 lawn tractors sold nationwide at Deere dealers, Home Depot, and Lowe’s from December 2010 through September 2011. The hardware used to hold the mower blade-brake assemblies on the mower decks was breaking. A similar recall, in which hardware used to hold the brake assembly to the transmission was breaking, resulted in the recall of 5,200 D100 units sold nationwide—except in California—at John Deere dealers, Home Depot, and Lowe’s from October 2010 through September 2011. About 1,920 D100 models fall under both recalls.
According to John Deere, the stray bolts had broken loose because of hydrogen embrittlement—a manufacturing defect that can occur during the baking process when bolts and other fasteners are electroplated for corrosion resistance. After the process, the metal fasteners became brittle and snapped when tightened. The problem is especially hard to spot, says Deere, since breakages can occur as long as 48 hours after assembly. The company told us it is moving to a pricier manufacturing process for its fasteners to preclude further hydrogen embrittlement.
What to do
Consumer Reports has tested and recommended three of the recalled John Deere models: the X300, X304, and D110 (a CR Best Buy). We bought our test models before the problems first arose and found no such issues during our tests. The three recall notices list serial numbers for the models included. John Deere is sending letters to all registered owners. You can also call the company at 800-537-8233 or visit www.johndeere.com for more information. The free repair applies no matter where you purchased your tractor, including Home Depot or Lowe’s, where Deere has posted recall notices.
December 15 - The future of Husqvarna's plant building in Beatrice remains a mystery, with operations scheduled to cease over the next month.
The Swedish lawnmower manufacturer announced in May it would be consolidating its Beatrice operations with its U.S. headquarters in Orangeburg, S.C., by the end of the year, taking over 300 jobs along with it.
The building's vacancy has led to rumors of potential suitors for the 274,000-square-foot facility.
One rumor that has held traction over the past few months is the transfer of a division of the Kawasaki Motors Corp., a manufacturer of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, jet skis and other utility vehicles, now in Lincoln, to a Beatrice location.
Kawasaki also has contracts in the hundreds of millions of dollars to manufacture rail cars for rail lines in New York City, Connecticut and Washington, D.C.
The size of the rail car manufacturing work led to a rumor that Kawasaki would be moving the manufacturing of its smaller products to Beatrice.
"We had heard that rumor as well, but Kawasaki is not considering moving anything into the Husqvarna building," said Mike Boyle, manager of the Lincoln plant, in a message to the Daily Sun. He said no discussion has taken place about moving any part of the business to Beatrice.
"We certainly feel bad for people in Beatrice losing Husqvarna, but we are in no way looking at using that plant for Kawasaki," Boyle said.
John DeHardt, managing principal of the building for Kessinger-Hunter, the Husqvarna plant's owner, did not return the Daily Sun's call Tuesday.
The Husqvarna plant was built in Beatrice in 2004.
April 7 -- Spring has finally arrived, and with it the obligation to get the yard back in shape. But this year consumers finally have a reason to be thankful for their lawnmower: a class action lawsuit settlement that entitles scores of people to a check and/or a warranty extension.
The settlement concerns a lawsuit, filed last May, contending that advertisements for over 20 lawnmower brands exaggerated the machines' horsepower. The complaint, filed in federal court in Wisconsin, claimed the defendant companies "defrauded the public" by "significantly overstating" the horsepower of the subject lawnmowers, and by "failing to disclose...[their] true, significantly lower horsepower."
Specifically, the complaint stated that the defendants sold "identical, but differently and misleadingly labeled, engines at different prices -- with higher prices for engines labeled with purported higher horsepower." In other words, the companies took two identical engines, slapped different labels on them, and sold them at significantly different prices.
The suit also claimed that several of the companies created a so-called "Power Labeling Task Force," a group that they used to plan and organize their conspiracy. The group held meetings "at various locations," and even kept minutes that were distributed once the task force had adjourned.
By discovering the task force, the plaintiffs were able to include a count for violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). According to the complaint, the defendants' "repeated acts of mail and wire fraud" -- namely, mailing false and misleading advertisements -- rose "above mere fraud."
The suit concerns lawnmowers with the brand names Yard-Man, Cub Cadet, Honda, Bolens, Exmark, Deere, Sabre, Scotts, Toro, Yard Machines, Craftsman, Troy Bilt, Husqvarna, Poulan, Poulan PRO, Lawn-Boy, Weed Eater, White Outdoor, Snapper, Simplicity, Brute, and Murray. The suit also covers "numerous other brands" with engines manufactured by Briggs & Stratton, Tecumseh, Kawasaki, Honda or Kohler.
Under the settlement, class members who submit timely claim forms can receive $35 for every eligible walk-behind lawnmower they own, and $75 for every eligible ride-on mower. Consumers who own a Briggs & Stratton, Toro, Tecumseh, TecumsehPower, Kawasaki, or Kohler mower, which was under a manufacturer's warranty when purchased, can receive a one-year warranty extension.
Additionally, MTD, Kawasaki, Kohler, Sears, Deere, Tecumseh, Briggs & Stratton, Toro, Electrolux, and Husqvarna have agreed to begin using a "new uniform standard" to measure horsepower.
A final approval hearing is scheduled for June 22. Class members who wish to object or opt out of the class must do so by June 4. Claim forms for the above-detailed cash benefits are due by August 31. Consumers have one year following final approval to submit claim forms for a warranty extension. Additional information is available at the official settlement website.
In addition to the RICO claim, the complaint alleged unjust enrichment, antitrust violations, conspiracy, and violations of state consumer protection laws.
