Deere & Co. Defeats Appeal Over Tractor Shield Defect Dismissal

An insurer was properly denied judgment on defect claims over Deere & Co. tractors lacking engine shields because the company’s warranty only covered defects caused by the material or workmanship, a federal appeals court said Monday.

Secura Insurance Co. appealed two orders dismissing a warranty claim based on a design defect and granting Deere judgment on a warranty claim over a manufacturing defect related to two 2018.5 RX tractors that caught fire. The tractors were a transitional model that had some updated features of the 2019 version. The 2019 model had installed engine shields while the transitional models only had ...