John Deere & Co. (USA) recently lost a suit filed in South Dakota, alleging improperly lubricated bearings overheated and caused a new harvester to be destroyed by fire.

MoDak dairy claimed its new $400,000 Deere silage harvester, less than two weeks old at the time of the incident in 2002, caught fire and was destroyed due to a bearing failure. The bearings in the kernel processing unit allegedly overheated, igniting corn debris in the hopper.

The dairy was awarded just over $400,000 for the harvester, plus $1 million in punitive damages. Punitive damages were awarded because the jury found that Deere knew or should have known about the bearing lubrication problem.

According to court documents filed in the case, Deere faces a number of other similar complaints -- that improperly lubricated bearings in new farm equipment have failed and caused damage to or total loss of the equipment and facilities.