Advance-Rumely Thresher Co. v. Welch

1933 OK 470, 25 P.2d 58, 165 Okla. 94, 1933 Okla. LEXIS 260
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 19, 1933
Docket20835
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1933 OK 470 (Advance-Rumely Thresher Co. v. Welch) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Advance-Rumely Thresher Co. v. Welch, 1933 OK 470, 25 P.2d 58, 165 Okla. 94, 1933 Okla. LEXIS 260 (Okla. 1933).

Opinion

RILEY, C. J.

This is an action commenced by plaintiff seeking judgment on three promissory notes and foreclosure of a chattel mortgage on a combine harvester for which said notes were given.

Defendant azzswered, admitting the execution of the notes and chattel mortgage, and further alleged that in addition to giving the notes he znade a cash payment on the machine in the sum of $100, and by way of trade-in of another machine he gave the value of $1,140, and paid out for freight the sum of $165; that he had purchased said combine harvester from plaintiff under a written contract, containing, among other things, a warranty as follows:

“Said machinery is warranted to be well made and of good material, and with proper use capable of doing as good work as any other zzzachine of the same kind, size and rated capacity, working under like conditions.”

Defendant further alleges that said contract contained certain provisions and requirements with regard to giving notice of defects, but that such provisions had been waived by plaintiff. He then pleaded a breach of the warranty izz several particulars and alleged that the machine was wholly and totally worthless; that it was not well made of good material; that it was not capable with proper use of doing as good work as any other machine of the same kind, size and rated capacity, working under like conditions; that it was improperly designed; was heavy and so overweight that it could not successfully be used for harvesting grain; that after giving said machine a fair trial under favorable conditions, with the tractor with which he had successfully operated two other combines of other makes, defendant notified plaintiff’s agent of its failure to work, and they in turn notified plaintiff, who sent its state agent and other representatives and employees to attempt to make it work, and they were unable to do so, and could not operate said znachiue with such tractor; that defendant had been compelled to hire an additional tractor with which to operate said machine for 20 days at $20 per day, and that by using both tractors, 20 days’ time was reouired to harvest 380 acres of wheat, whereas not more than 10 days should have been required with the use of but one tractor. He further alleged some six or seven particulars in which he claimed the machine failed to comply with or come zip to the warranty. He further alleged that he had been compelled to hire another *95 machine to harvest 40 acres of his wheat at an expense of $3 per acre; that by reason of the defective machine defendant had lost a large amount of wheat, and that by reason of the delay caused by using said machine, the quality of his wheat had been damaged. He also alleged great additional expense in harvesting his wheat, all to his damage in the sum of $1,000. He pleaded that he had offered to return the combine to plaintiff, and still stood ready to return and deliver it to plaintiff either at his farm or at the railroad station. He prayed that plaintiff take nothing and for judgment in his favor against plaintiff in the sum of $2,500.

Plaintiff replied by general and special denial of the allegations of defendant’s answer, and set up a copy of the written contract, which, in addition to the warranty clause pleaded by defendant, contained the following:

“Purchaser shall not be entitled to rely upon any breach of above warranty or to rescind this contract or to any claim or set-off against the vendor because of any breach, unless: (a) Notice of the defect or breach, particularly describing the same and specifying the time of discovery thereof, is given by registered letter addressed to vendor at its head office, posted within four days after such discovery; (b) such defect or breach appears within ten (10) days after the first use of the goods; (c) the vendor fails to remedy such defect oy breach by substitution of parts or otherwise within a reasonable time after receipt of such notice, which substitution it shall have the right to make.* * *
“If vendor fails to remedy the defect purchaser shall have the right immediately to return the defective goods or parts in as good condition as when received by him to the places to which they were received, and shall thereupon give vendor immediate written notice by a registered letter addressed and mailed to vendor at fts head office.”

It also pleaded that defendant had signed a waiver of any claim against plaintiff, reading as follows:

“Dated at Helena, Oklahoma, July 5, 1926. This is to certify that the machinery herein described is now in good working order, and I hereby waive all claims, whether real or supposed, that I may have or have had against said Advance-Rumley Thresher Company, Inc., machine was not in proper shape to begin harvesting a crop and pulls harder than represented to me. Signed M. P. Welch.”

The reply also pleaded failure of defendant to return the machine and give notice thereof.

Defendant answered the allegations of the reply with reference to the waiver by alleging that his signature was procured to the waiver by fraud and that the same was executed without any consideration whatever.

At the trial before a jury, defendant assumed the burden of proof, and at the close of his evidence plaintiff demurred thereto, which demurrer being overruled, plaintiff elected to stand upon the demurrer and refused to put on any evidence.

The case-made contains the depositions of witnesses taken by plaintiff, but they were not introduced in evidence and are not properly in the record and may not be considered.

Both parties requested an instructed verdict. Request of plaintiff was denied, and that of defendant, which was for an instructed verdict only for the amount paid plaintiff on the machinery and the freight, and the cancellation of the notes and mortgage, was granted and verdict was returned and judgment entered accordingly, and plaintiff appeals.

There are six specifications of error, but those relied upon by plaintiff all go to the order of the court overruling demurrer to the defendant’s evidence and directing a verdict for defendant.

The written contract here involved is almost identical in form with the one in Advance-Rumely Thresher Co. v. Yancey, 100 Okla. 197, 229 P. 149, and most of the questions raised in this appeal were there settled adversely to the contention of plaintiff.

The warranty clause is, in effect, a specific warranty against defects in material and workmanship, and also a warranty that the machinery sold would be suitable to and would perform the ordinary work for which it was made or manufactured.

The evidence of the ■ defendant is uncon-tradieted to the effect that the machinery sold failed to meet this warranty. In fact plaintiff in the concluding statements of its brief admits as much. The contract states three conditions which must have existed before defendant was entitled to rely upon any breach of the warranty and rescind the contract or to make any claim or set-off against the vendor because of such breach: (a) Notice of the defect or breach given to the vendor by registered letter addressed to the vendor and posted within four days after the discovery of such defect and *96 specifying the time of such

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Related

Volz v. Clark
1956 OK 290 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1956)
Rohland v. International Harvester Co. of America
1938 OK 142 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1938)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1933 OK 470, 25 P.2d 58, 165 Okla. 94, 1933 Okla. LEXIS 260, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/advance-rumely-thresher-co-v-welch-okla-1933.