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 Member
Posts: 31
Location: Florida | I don't post much, but just wanted to share what we had happen to us recently in order to prevent it happening to anyone else! We had purchased a used Kawasaki Mule several months ago, no problems we knew of... until one day, after my grandfather drove it to the mailbox and back, afterwards parked it outside the barn, turned it completely off and walked away... about 10-15 minutes later it somehow burst into flames, burning down to it's frame and catching the barn and nearby tree on fire in the process. He was pretty far away (and actually about to drive off in his car) but luckily he heard a loud "bang" (which was a tire popping), and went to see what happened and (we had just finished laying pipe to the barn 2 weeks prior) he had a hose nearby to start hosing the barn. Otherwise we would have lost the whole 2500 sq ft barn also as it took the volunteer firemen in our small town about 20-30 minutes to get out there so it was about all over with by then.
We were just finishing up the process of converting it from a house to a barn.... the only real damage was the siding it melted (BTW the tar paper underneath that siding is HIGHLY flammable) which we were removing anyways, and some black soot on the wood, which was covered easily by paint. We got very very lucky, and there were also no horses in the barn at the time.
I say this because I know many people ride them right up into shedrows to feed, etc... please please be very cautious when doing this, and always park equipment in a separate shed from your barn!!! Since this was a used Mule and we have no way of knowing what work the previous owner did with it, I have no issues with Kawasaki, and we have actually have purchased a brand new one since the incident. After firemen and a Kawasaki dealer inspected it, it appears to have been some sort of electrical fire starting at the front of the vehicle.
Pics attached of Mule before and after fire, and new barn!
Edited by bnm728 2014-06-05 2:13 PM
 (2014-03-08 11.10.59.jpg)
 (2014-04-14 08.20.33.jpg)
 (2014-05-10 14.13.29.jpg)
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 2014-03-08 11.10.59.jpg (88KB - 291 downloads)
2014-04-14 08.20.33.jpg (76KB - 227 downloads)
2014-05-10 14.13.29.jpg (70KB - 236 downloads)
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 Midget Lover
    
Location: Kentucky | Yikes!! Glad everything is ok. So scary. |
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Member
Posts: 31
Location: Florida | Thanks, us too! But just want to get the word out there... it was a shock.. but since sharing our story have heard of it happening to others too, with not just UTVs but Go carts, etc parked in houses that burned to the ground :( All while completely OFF!
Edited by bnm728 2014-06-05 3:20 PM
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | Oh my! We've owned a Mule that looks just like that one for..... gosh, 10-15 years now. I've never heard of them doing that. And we leave ours parked in our barn! |
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Member
Posts: 31
Location: Florida | Ya we parked ours inside a couple times if it was raining... but not anymore! Chances ARE you will be fine...I mean this has got to be a one in a million type thing... but if that had caught our hay... no chance after that!! :/ |
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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25352
Location: Bastrop, Texas | I think a lot of these incidents are related to faulty fuel connections. I had a new Arctic Cat that caught fire and exploded on the frozen river. I also had a new Yamaha ATV that caught fire in a similar "delayed" manner. I had just finished dragging my indoor arena and I turned it off and left it in the arena and went inside. A few minutes later a deer hunter banged on my door and told me that smoke was billowing from the arena. In the case of the snowmobile, they later recalled that model because of a faulty fuel connection. The dealer who sold me the ATV figured it also had a faulty fuel connection. Arctic Cat bought back the sled and Yamaha gave me a new ATV. Both were only a few months old. |
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Sideways Riding Expert
Posts: 11371
Location: ND--it snows, it floods, it snows, it floods | Could also be if the previous owner had it wired for a sprayer and didn't ground it properly. This is what happened to my ATV at work. It was in the back of my pickup and it started on fire. Luckily someone saw it and put it out right away with little damage to the ATV but we found out that it had been wired for a sprayer and wasn't grounded properly. Talk about scary! |
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  Angel in a Sorrel Coat
Posts: 16030
Location: In a happy place | Hadn't heard of anything like this. I have an older Mule but it is a diesel, wonder if that makes any difference? |
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Regular
Posts: 54
| Thanks for posting this. We bought one used just like this one not long ago. |
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Blessed 
Location: Here | HotbearLVR - 2014-06-05 4:16 PM
I think a lot of these incidents are related to faulty fuel connections. I had a new Arctic Cat that caught fire and exploded on the frozen river. I also had a new Yamaha ATV that caught fire in a similar "delayed" manner. I had just finished dragging my indoor arena and I turned it off and left it in the arena and went inside. A few minutes later a deer hunter banged on my door and told me that smoke was billowing from the arena. In the case of the snowmobile, they later recalled that model because of a faulty fuel connection. The dealer who sold me the ATV figured it also had a faulty fuel connection. Arctic Cat bought back the sled and Yamaha gave me a new ATV. Both were only a few months old.
Thanks for that I insight they just don't go boom for no reason Glad to hear the why |
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Blessed
Location: Here | docschic - 2014-06-05 6:20 PM
Could also be if the previous owner had it wired for a sprayer and didn't ground it properly. This is what happened to my ATV at work. It was in the back of my pickup and it started on fire. Luckily someone saw it and put it out right away with little damage to the ATV but we found out that it had been wired for a sprayer and wasn't grounded properly. Talk about scary!
Hum maybe so mine uses the cigarette plug |
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