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Husqvarna

Terry of Boise ID (8/20/03):
On Thursday, August 14, 2003, I purchased a Husqvarna 6.5 horsepower lawn mower from the Sears store in Boise, Idaho, along with a replacement blade for the unit. I have owned two Sears Craftsman lawn mowers in the past, but I decided to move up to more powerful and expensive mower. That decision was based in part on a salesman�s assurances that the Husqvarna mower, with its Honda engine, would last for �15 to 20 years.�

I mowed my lawn later that day, but I found that I had set the cutting height rather high, and the mower did not do quite as good a job as I had anticipated. On Sunday, August 17, 2003, I decided to mow my lawn again, but I also decided to lower the cutting height of the mower. In the process of mowing, I struck the remnants of a three inch by four inch tree stump which protrudes above the ground approximately one inch. I had been mowing over the stump all summer, but in lowering the cutting height on the new mower, I inadvertently lowered it to the point where the blade made contact with stump.

Upon contact with the stump, the mower stopped. I examined the blade and found that the blade was bent. I immediately replaced the bent blade with the replacement blade with Sears sold me but, when I started the mower, the new blade banged around on the inside of the mower deck, apparently striking some rivet heads inside the deck casing. I removed that blade, compared it to the original blade, and the replacement blade appears to be about one half inch longer than the original blade. I replaced that blade with an old, shorter blade that I had on hand and restarted the mower but, at that point, the mower ran rough and smoked.

On Monday, August 18, my wife took the mower to the local Sears repair center and explained what had happened. The staff at the repair center recommended that my wife take the mower back to the store (rather than shipping it off for repair) to see if the store would simply exchange it for a new one.

On Tuesday, August 19, 2003, my wife took the mower back to the Lawn and Garden Department at the store. After talking to five or six different people, going back and forth between the repair center and the store, and waiting for an hour because one of your employees was �on a conference call�, my wife was advised 1) the drive shaft is bent, 2) the damage is the result of owner misuse, 3) the replacement blade is the same length as the original blade but just looks longer because the original blade is bent, and 4) the only recourse that we have is to ship the mower out for repair, which will cost anywhere between $150.00 and $350.00, and will take two weeks or so.

The good news, according to one of the store representatives, is that once the lawn mower is rebuilt, it will �last for years�. Last for years? My fancy, heavy duty, $500.00 Husqvarna/Honda mower didn�t even last one week! While I certainly agree that I bent the original mower blade, I have to add that I have bent several mower blades in my life by striking various objects, but have never bent the drive shaft on a mower by doing so. I fail to see how striking an object the way I did would bend the drive shaft and, if that is actually case, it certainly calls into question the quality of the product which I purchased.

We hate to say it, but hitting a tree stump is almost certain to damage the drive shaft of any mower. We don't think Terry can blame Husqvarna for his error.

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July 25 2008

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