John Deere Recalls Lawn Tractors Due to Laceration Hazard

Recall Insight

This CPSC action (record #11325) was formally reported on September 14, 2011. It is classified under Moderate severity, with a current status of Active. Deere & Company of Moline, Ill. is listed as the recalling firm. Federal records indicate About 15,500 units are affected.

The documented reason for this recall is: Hardware used to hold the mower blade brake assemblies on the mower decks can break. This can cause the mower blades to spin longer than normal after the operator turns off the power, posing a laceration hazard. Distribution information was not included in the agency filing, so consumers should assume broad potential exposure until the firm publishes point-of-sale details. The remedy documented by the agency is: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled lawn tractors and contact the company for a free hardware inspection and repair. — consumers holding this product should act on that instruction rather than relying on general guidance.

To put this record in context, PlainRecalls indexes 83,949 recalls across the FDA, CPSC, NHTSA and USDA FSIS going back to 1995. Within the same product category, the database holds 6 closely related recalls, of which 1 were also issued by CPSC. That clustering is a signal — repeated actions in a narrow category often indicate a systemic quality-control issue, a supplier-wide contamination, or a design defect that has propagated across product lines. This recall is roughly 15 years old; older recalls can remain relevant because many units enter resale, rental, and secondary-market channels where the original warning never reaches the end user. Always cross-check the recall number against the official agency page before relying on any summary.