Ingle v. Marked Tree Equipment Co.

428 S.W.2d 286, 244 Ark. 1166, 5 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 466, 1968 Ark. LEXIS 1477
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJune 3, 1968
Docket5-4290
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 428 S.W.2d 286 (Ingle v. Marked Tree Equipment Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ingle v. Marked Tree Equipment Co., 428 S.W.2d 286, 244 Ark. 1166, 5 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 466, 1968 Ark. LEXIS 1477 (Ark. 1968).

Opinion

John A. Fogleman, Justice.

Appellant Ingle asserts that the trial judge erred in directing a verdict in favor of appellee for a deficiency judgment on a purchase money note given for a John Deere combine.

Marked Tree Equipment Company, the appellee, filed its complaint alleging the sale of a John Deere 95-B combine to appellant for $11,068.00 on October 1, 1964, and asserting that it had repossessed the implement on May 5, 1966, because of default of appellant in making payment. It was alleged that appellee made a down payment of $2,280.00 and that the time payment balance of $11,749.62 was to be made in four equal annual payments of $2,937.40, one becoming due on the first day of each succeeding December. Appellee also alleged that notice was given to appellant that the combine would be sold for $6,000.00 unless the balance of $8,812.22 was paid by May 23, 1966. It stated that it “bought” the combine for $6,000.00 on July 15, 1966, the same date it was required to repurchase appellant’s time payment note from a bank to which it had been assigned. It sought judgment for $2,812.22 and interest.

Ingle answered, alleging that he purchased this combine upon the representation by the implement company that it would fix up the 95-B combine so that it would perform exactly like the R combine he actually wanted to purchase. He denied that he was obligated to pay any insurance premiums. He further alleged:

When the combine was delivered it had larger wheels on it than usual on that type of combine and that appellant guaranteed that this combine would give him perfect satisfaction and that if he found, upon trial, that it did not perform to his satisfaction, it would not cost him anything; the failure of the combine to perform properly was reported to the implement company and that they tried to make it work but failed to do so; be then advised appellant to com© and get the implement as he could not use it and did not intend to pay for it; appellant took possession of the combine under an agreement that he would not be required to pay for it.

The defense of usury was also pleaded and recovery of a down payment of $2,280.00 was sought. By amendment, appellant sought to recover a payment of $2,937.40 and another of $936.08.

The implement company denied appellant’s allegations generally and pleaded a contractual limitation of warranties in the time sale agreement.

The verdict was directed upon conclusion of the evidence on behalf of appellee.

Appellant asserts nine points for reversal, all of which relate to matters which he contends raised factual issues for the jury. Among the points upon which appellant relies are his contentions that there were questions of fact as to material changes in his contract after he had signed it, by alteration of the stated price of the combine and by charging premiums for unauthorized insurance; as to the usurious nature of the transaction; and as to the existence of a new and substituted parol contract at the time of the first payment in which appellee made a new guarantee.

Appellee contends that actions of appellant, with full knowledge of all facts,- constituted a waiver of any alleged defenses and a ratification of the contract as a matter of law.

In considering the propriety of the court’s action we will view the evidence in the light most favorable to appellant. Even when we do so, we find that many of the allegations of his pleadings are not sustained and that the court’s action was not erroneous.

Ingle was a farmer who needed a combine for use in the harvest of 1964. Sometime prior to the harvest he met one Edwin Redd, a salesman for Marked Tree Equipment Company, on the road to Bay Village. They had a discussion in which Ingle advised Redd that he had been looking at a Case combine. Redd’s company was a John Deere dealer. They discussed prices and equipment. Ingle testified that Redd said the cost of the combine would be $9,600.00 and that it had 18-inch tires. Ingle expressed his preference for Case equipment because he had “soft ground” and doubted that the tires on the John Deere equipment were wide enough to support it on his land. A few nights later, Redd came to Ingle’s house about the matter and after a week or so in negotiations, Ingle signed a contract to purchase the Deere combine. Thereafter, when he went with Redd to see it, he told the manager of appellee, the shop foreman, and Redd that he could not use it because the tires were not large enough. They suggested the use of dual wheels, but Ingle was unfamiliar with them. Redd stated that they said they would guarantee this combine to go anywhere with an extra set of wheels. The shop foreman asked Ingle to bring them a set of rims, but Ingle suggested that they use a set he saw in the shop and now claims that they did so. They did not say anything about charging him for the wheels but went ahead and welded them. When the combine was delivered sometime before October 1,1964, the wheels and rims were brought with it, but were not attached because of highway width requirements. Ingle was shown the place for bolting them on by the employee who delivered the equipment.

Sometime after the original contract was signed, Redd came out to Ingle’s house and brought a new contract, claiming that a mistake had been made on the first one signed. Ingle signed the new document and tore up his copy of the first one as requested by Redd. Some of the writing on the new contract was done at the Ingle house where Ingle signed it. Appellant identified his signature on the contract introduced by appellee. The description of the equipment was written on the contract the way Ingle wanted it at the time he signed, hut there were not any figures as to the money terms. No mention was made of any insurance. Ingle’s copy of this contract was received by him by mail some two or three weeks later. Ingle’s wife read the contract and showed it to him, after which he called appellee’s place of business and told a secretary that he was overcharged. Redd later came out, that evening, and angry words were exchanged. Ingle protests that the contract called for him to pay $12,000.00 although the equipment had been priced to him at $9,600.00. Redd agreed to take the contract back to the manager of the company and promised that if there were mistakes, they would be corrected. The combine was delivered subsequently.

Ingle started using the combine for harvesting soy beans, commencing about October 1st. It worked satisfactorily during dry weather for about three days. Thereafter, there were rains and the combine would bog down so that Ingle was unable to use it for any full day thereafter. His Case equipment operated satisfactorily. After ten or twelve days and two or three rain showers, Ingle abandoned efforts to use the Deer combine and parked it on the hill near his house. However, he attempted to use it later, sometime in November, probably 15 times. He obtained other Case equipment and help in harvesting his crop.

Thereafter, he got notice of his December 1st payment by letter dated November 25, 1964. Still later, Redd came out. Ingle told him then that the combine would not work and that he would not pay $12,000.00 for it “until it cut beans.” Ingle expressed the desire that appellee take the machine. The following conversation ensued:

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Bluebook (online)
428 S.W.2d 286, 244 Ark. 1166, 5 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 466, 1968 Ark. LEXIS 1477, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ingle-v-marked-tree-equipment-co-ark-1968.