WOW!! Lucky it wasn't near any buildings, especially
your house. I have a friend who finished mowing his
lawn with his John Deere rider and parked it in his
attached garage, like he always did. Well a few minutes later it burst into flames and took the house with it.
I'm sorry for your loss and I hope you make out okay
with the insurance. Obviously there was a problem
with your machine, but even if a machine is functioning
properly, EVERYONE should always shut their machine down in the open,away from buildings and only bring it in after it has cooled. Good luck and let us know how you make out.
(I can't believe the fire dept. would pour water
on what was obvioudly a gasoline fed fire).

Call Scag-(920)387-3150.Ask for Jerry Bailey.

Sorry for your lost. Let this be an eye opener for the rest of us to have a fire extinguisher that used for ABC fires in the shed, garage, or even on the equipment itself. I have two in the garage, two in the house and one in the shed. You may never need them but when you do it can save a bunch IMO. This may have nothing to do with your problem, but again I cannot stress doing a pre and post quick inspection of our equipment before and after uses. Especially looking for raw gas, oil leaks, and hydraulic leaks, all of these can be a fire hazard if leaking in the right spot.

SCAG is being cooperative but they want to work WITH my insurance company...so sounds like they dont want to just hand me a new mower...dont know how thats any better than just dealing with my insurance company by itself. Maybe the deductable can be waived or something..

Thanks for this post. I am now letting my mower cool off outside before I bring it into the garage. I never would have thought about the possibility of the machine catching on fire.

I hope that you get a new mower soon. I am actually thinking about purchasing a SCAG Freedom Z at the end of this season. Hopefully this was just a fluke issue and not a design flaw.

Good luck.

To close out the SCAG part of this thread..SCAG has made its final decision.
They are willing to sell me a tiger cat for 6200 + tx. I'm guessing that's about 800 less than what most folks can get one for...Unfortunately, the price still puts me out 1K of insurance deductible.

So, SCAG has made a minor gesture towards helping me but nothing close to replacing the mower.

So, since I have to pay minimum 1K, and insurance will pay "replacement value" I'll be buying up and into a different brand.

I'll have the old 48" deck probably still good to sell as well as most of the front parts of the mower...could be that drive motors are good too but will have to take a look.

Thanks everyone for following this thread. I consider the matter closed but would invite anyone to continue to post their experiences with SCAG or any other mower that may have an potential fatal flaw. I've been chastised, in another forum, for not keeping up with my preventative maintenance (although I have met or exceeded whats listed in the manual).

When its your business or your life on the line I think it prudent to do more and now I know that both are at risk and that the manufacture wont do much to back you up.

Geeze, I always sweep off my Toro Timecutter and back it into the garage right away. After reading this I just might consider letting it sit outside for awhile.

Glad you weren't hurt.

How did it happen? The only way I can think of is that gas leaked from the fuel line onto the hot engine. I am surprised they are not offering you a new one, no questions asked. If I was SCAG management, I would want to finish with this case as soon as possible and not have the customer start posting pictures on the internet and writing stories abou what happened. This has the potential of hurting them far more than it hurt you.

I'm still not convinced that ethanol is not causing a lot of fuel line failures.

Could be ethanol, Looks like a gravely just burned over on the lawnsite forum also. It was a 2001 with pretty low hours.

Good decision to go out and buy another brand when u can't get satisfaction from the manufacturer. The only votes they understand are green.

I had the same problem happen to me. I was able to save my mower. this is what I discovered upon examination of the problem.

The culprit in my instance was the wiring harness that connects the battery (part #482543) had vibrated apart. This shuts the power down to the ignition module allowing raw fuel to be pumped into the cylinders until they overflow into the exhaust. When the fuel hit the hot exhaust it burst into flame. When I saw where the flames were originating I shut off the fuel valve and then cranked the engine over till all the fuel was expelled from the cylinders and exhaust. Now as part of my prestart check list check that plug to ensure it is connected and have gone as far as to tape it together with electrical tape to ensure that it stays connected.

After speaking with my small engine repair man he explained the same thing is possible if one of the spark plugs become fowled. That cylinder can pump raw fuel directly into the exhaust. I'm sure Scag will do nothing for you of any great signifigance. Remember they're main goal is to sell you a new mower.

I will stick whith scags but when I upgrade i will go to a larger model probably with a diesel engine.