Law suit over HP ratings--you may get some money back

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Chet18013

Chet18013

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Joined
Mar 5, 2005
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Full time in RV. Home is where we are parked
Looks like someone just won a class action law suit because manufacturers overstated the horsepower ratings of their lawn mowers. Will power tools be next in line? Is SEARS shaking in their boots?

Quote:

I. NATURE OF THE CASE

1. For more than a decade, Defendants have lied to consumers by overstating the horsepower of lawn mower engines.

In advertising and selling their lawn mowers and lawn mower engines, Defendants have defrauded the public..........






To get your $35 lawn mower refund go to:

https://lawnmowerclass.com/
 
It's not only gasoline engines, take a look at other items as well - like an electric motor driven piece of equipment. I forced Lowe's into a refund on a small compressor a few years back. Supposedly it was a 5Hp unit. I got a build spec sheet from GE and that motor was max 2Hp (1500 watts). The way that they get around that is using terms like "developed" horsepower which means full load and for a very limited time frame, i.e. "Duty Cycle". This is a term that most folks don't understand. It means that it will develop or operate at that full output for a percentage of time. A 50% duty cycle is full Hp output for 30 minutes out of an hour of operation and so on up or down. In a real world setting, but seldom possible with consumer devices, you would look for a 100% duty cycle - but be prepared to pay the price. My diesel yard tractor has a a drawbar 17Hp duty cycle at 100%, 20Hp @ 75%, etc. My MIG welder has a duty cycle of 50% which in commercial use would not be acceptable. What is this? Truth in advertising and keeping the price competitive and hoping that you don't operate the machine at full output. If the weasel words were in the advertising/owner's manual, a class action suit might be difficult and any monies paid out might be good will
 
Hey thanks for the heads up Chet,

I will apply for the $75 on my riding mower.

Betty
 
Thanks Chet. I filled out the online claim for my $35.

Betty - What are you doing with a riding lawn-mower when you ain't got no lawn??

Wendy
 
Wendy said:
Betty - What are you doing with a riding lawn-mower when you ain't got no lawn??
Wendy
Click to expand...

Actually our  little cabin in Idaho has quite a bit of " lawn."  We bought a mower as the weed eater we had took forever and kicked up too many rocks that hit the motorhome.  So with this riding toy, cutting grass is now a blue job.

BB
 
So with this riding toy, cutting grass is now a blue job.
Click to expand...

So you mean if we bought a riding mower, I wouldn't have to mow the lawn anymore? Actually, I thnk the riding mower should be a pink job and the walk-behind thing should be a blue job :) Better yet, we could sell the house, buy a lot in Quartzsite and never need a lawn mower again !!

Wendy
 
This has to be the dumbest law suit I've ever read about.

Folks who are members of the class, don't hold your breath; The folks who get most of the money are ...... the lawyers  ;)
 
So, am I to assume that those of you who submitted a claim somehow feel cheated that your motor was inaccurately labeled as to its horsepower rating?  Perhaps you just realized that your mower was not cutting as well as the label suggested it should.  Maybe when you bought your last mower you had considered a lesser horsepower brand (not one of the defendants) but decided on the more expensive, higher horsepower brand (one of the defendants) and now feel cheated.  My guess is that you probably have little idea what the horsepower ratings really meant in the first place.

Frivolous lawsuits hurt businesses and you and I end up paying for it.  Think about that $10.41 when you buy your next piece of power equipment and wonder why the thing is so expensive.
 
So that's the reason why all Honda engines are advertised as a given model with no HP rating, so the buying public has no idea what they're buying. How stupid.
 
Horsepower (HP) is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.[1] Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses. The unit was widely adopted to measure the output of piston engines, turbines, electric motors, and other machinery. The definition of the unit varied between geographical regions. Most countries now use the SI unit watt for measurement of power. With the implementation of the EU Directive 80/181/EEC on January 1, 2010, the use of horsepower in the EU is only permitted as supplementary unit.

The definition of the horsepower also has varied between different applications:

The mechanical horsepower, also known as imperial horsepower, of exactly 550 foot-pounds per second is approximately equivalent to 745.7 watts.
The metric horsepower of 75 kgf-m per second is approximately equivalent to 735.499 watts.
The boiler horsepower is used for rating steam boilers and is equivalent to 34.5 pounds of water evaporated per hour at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or 9,809.5 watts.
One horsepower for rating electric motors is equal to 746 watts.
Continental European electric motors used to have dual ratings, using conversion rate 0.735 kW for 1 HP
The Pferdest?rke PS (German translation of horsepower) is a name for a group of similar power measurements used in Germany around the end of the 19th century, all of about one metric horsepower in size.[2][3]
The Royal Automobile Club (RAC) horsepower or British tax horsepower is an estimate based on several engine dimensions.
 
Conquest aka Robert said:
Horsepower (HP) is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.[1] Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses. The unit was widely adopted to measure the output of piston engines, turbines, electric motors, and other machinery. The definition of the unit varied between geographical regions. Most countries now use the SI unit watt for measurement of power. With the implementation of the EU Directive 80/181/EEC on January 1, 2010, the use of horsepower in the EU is only permitted as supplementary unit.

The definition of the horsepower also has varied between different applications:

The mechanical horsepower, also known as imperial horsepower, of exactly 550 foot-pounds per second is approximately equivalent to 745.7 watts.
The metric horsepower of 75 kgf-m per second is approximately equivalent to 735.499 watts.
The boiler horsepower is used for rating steam boilers and is equivalent to 34.5 pounds of water evaporated per hour at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or 9,809.5 watts.
One horsepower for rating electric motors is equal to 746 watts.
Continental European electric motors used to have dual ratings, using conversion rate 0.735 kW for 1 HP
The Pferdest?rke PS (German translation of horsepower) is a name for a group of similar power measurements used in Germany around the end of the 19th century, all of about one metric horsepower in size.[2][3]
The Royal Automobile Club (RAC) horsepower or British tax horsepower is an estimate based on several engine dimensions.
Click to expand...
Huh? ???
 
Time has passed for claims to be paid in 'cash'  (8/31/2010)...you can still file for 'warranty relief', whatever that means up till Feb 21, 2012...

 
I sighed up for this last year when it first came out. I bought a mower at Lowe's and paid extra because I wanted the bigger motor. 400.00 for the 23hp instead of the 18hp. Mine wouldn't cut the thick grass next to the lake and I started having trouble with it loosing more power. Took it to the shop and they had to rebuild the motor. when they ordered the parts off the serial number of the motor it came back as a 18 hp.. Brigg's screwed me. not only on the motor size but also on the mower costing 400.00 more. When I took it back to Lowe's they are the ones that told me about the law suite and how to sign up for it. They still didn't refund the extra money for the mower. So I will now get the 75.00 from the law suite and I will only being loosing 325.00 off the mower. Unless you want to count the 300. I had to pay to get the motor rebuilt because it was to small to do the job I bought it for.
 
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