March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Jury rules equipment firm breached warranty

A federal jury in Bangor has concluded that a major manufacturer of tree-harvesting equipment breached the warranty on a $235,000 tree-harvesting machine that burned in the woods only three months after it was sold to a Bangor timber-management company.

After deliberating about six hours, the jury returned Tuesday night with its decision, also finding that Prentiss & Carlisle Co. of Bangor had been damaged by the warranty breach committed by the manufacturer, the Koehring Waterous division of Timberjack Inc.

The Bangor company could receive a compensation of $206,000, the cost of the machine without a saw head, depending on whether Koehring Watrous appeals a ruling on jury instructions issued by the presiding judge, U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby.

The decision ended a two-day trial in U.S. District Court in Bangor, during which both sides offered numerous diagrams and pictures of the tree-harvesting machine, called a feller buncher.

A feller buncher is used to cut and collect trees, which then are taken from the woods by a skidder. The machine, similar to a backhoe, has an arm bearing a mechanical saw head, which cuts trees and lays them on the ground.

Prentiss & Carlisle bought the machine in February 1989 from a Brewer dealer, according to testimony. It was destroyed in May while being operated in the woods near West Enfield.

Claiming that the feller buncher was defective, the Bangor company maintained that a fire allegedly was caused by a faulty throttle cable placed too close to a live battery terminal.

The manufacturer argued that the machine had been operated improperly and a master switch on the machine was left on by the operator, which resulted in the fire.

After the fire, the machine was irreparable, according to testimony presented by a Prentiss & Carlisle official. The saw head was salvaged and placed on a second feller buncher made by the same company, testified the official.


Have feedback? Want to know more? Send us ideas for follow-up stories.

comments for this post are closed

You may also like