Kincaid v. Kubota Tractor Corp.

CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedMay 15, 2026
Docket128050
StatusUnpublished

This text of Kincaid v. Kubota Tractor Corp. (Kincaid v. Kubota Tractor Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kincaid v. Kubota Tractor Corp., (kanctapp 2026).

Opinion

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

No. 128,050

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

KOLTON KINCAID, Appellee,

v.

KUBOTA TRACTOR CORPORATION, et al., Appellant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Reno District Court; KEITH SCHROEDER, judge. Oral argument held October 14, 2025. Opinion filed May 15, 2026. Affirmed.

James M. Armstrong and David E. Rogers, of Foulston Siefkin LLP, of Wichita, and Daniel J. Buller, of the same firm, of Overland Park, for appellant.

Jesse Tanksley and Michael J. Wyatt, of Mann Wyatt Tanksley, of Hutchinson, for appellee.

Before ISHERWOOD, P.J., CLINE, J., and COURTNEY D. CRAVER, District Judge, assigned.

ISHERWOOD, J.: Kolton Kincaid brought this products liability claim following a catastrophic injury he suffered while riding on the outside of a skid steer manufactured by the Kubota Tractor Corporation (Kubota). The matter was tried to a jury and resulted in an award of over $22 million to Kincaid. Kubota appeals to this court for a determination of whether the district court erred when it denied Kubota's multiple requests for a judgment as a matter of law, and whether Kincaid was required to provide expert testimony to establish the requisite standard of care. We have carefully reviewed the record in conjunction with an extensive analysis of the claims presented to us for

1 consideration and decline to find that this trial was tainted by error. The decisions of the district court are affirmed.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 2013, Eric Harbaugh purchased a Kubota compact track loader, model number SVL 90 (skid steer). He then leased the skid steer to his company, HVJ Services, LLC, (HVJ), which provided various services to farmers.

In November of that year, a work crew made up of Jacob Kentzler, Kolton Kincaid, and Riley Waggoner were in Harbaugh's employ, which was a regular occurrence. Each young man hailed from a farming family and, as such, were acclimated to the rigors of farming from a very young age. On the day in question, they were using a skid steer to resume their assigned task of installing a fence. Because it was cold, wet, and muddy, and their worksite was situated in the middle of a large field, the three boys decided that Kentzler would drive the skid steer to the worksite with Kincaid and Waggoner catching a ride. Kincaid sat on the front step designed to help the operator climb into the cab of the machine.

As the skid steer approached a ravine with standing water, Kincaid signaled to Kentzler to raise the loader arms. When Kentzler did so, the mechanism caught Kincaid between the grapple attachment and the cab overhang, compressing Kincaid's spine and causing a traumatic injury that rendered Kincaid a paraplegic.

Various warnings were attached to different portions of the skid steer, including a placard inside the cab which cautioned: "Warning—To Avoid Injury: Read and understand Operator's Manual before operating this machine." It also warned: "Keep by- standers away when operating" and "Never carry riders." The operator's manual instructed to "not allow passengers to ride on any part of the machine at any time." An

2 additional label on the outside of the cab displayed a pictogram that warned against people riding in the bucket attachment of the skid steer while it is operated. The picture consisted of a rudimentary drawing of a person standing in the bucket while it is in a raised position paired with a second drawing of the person landing on their head.

Kubota's sales records reflected that it sold 136,386 skid steers, including this model, in the United States between 2010 and 2023. Kubota maintained records on reported skid steer incidents, accidents, and injuries. Kincaid's injury was the only record that Kubota had of anyone being injured from riding on their skid steer loaders. Kubota had never had another reported accident involving a rider on an attachment.

The district court initially granted summary judgment to Kubota on Kincaid's failure to warn claim. Kincaid appealed to this court and the decision was reversed upon finding that fact questions remained with respect to Kincaid's knowledge of the danger. As a result, the case was remanded for further proceedings. Kincaid v. Kubota Tractor Corp., No. 120,950, 2020 WL 3022977, at *9-10 (Kan App. 2020) (unpublished opinion).

The case proceeded to a jury trial and during cross-examination Kincaid acknowledged that he knew Kubota expressly told skid steer users never to ride on the machine. He testified as follows:

"Q. Mr. Kincaid, I want to make sure I understand a couple things. You knew the precaution you were suppose[d] to take to avoid injury in this situation, which is not riding on the machine, correct? "A. Yes. "Q. You also knew the safeguard that you were supposed to take to avoid injury on this machine, which is not riding on the machine, correct? "A. Yes. "Q. Now, you could have chosen not to ride on the machine that day?

3 "A. Yes."

Kincaid also spoke about the pictogram that warned against using the bucket to lift a person—what they referred to as a "man lift." Kincaid acknowledged that he used the skid steer in that capacity many times in the past, despite understanding the warning against it. Kubota's counsel asked Kincaid about a video posted online that showed Kincaid, after his accident, using a skid steer as a man lift. The skid steer operator used the bucket to hoist Kincaid into a combine. Kincaid acknowledged that he used the skid steer for that purpose after his accident given the nature of his injury.

Kincaid also expressed awareness that using a skid steer as a man lift to reach something above you could result in being crushed against an object above you. Kubota's counsel followed up with this exchange:

"Q. As long as there's machinery, a moving part; in this case a loader arm moving towards something, that's going [to] create a potential hazard? "A. Depending upon the situation and what task you're performing, yeah. "Q. And I think you had testified to counsel, Mr. Wyatt, if that happens, the machine is going to win? "A. The machine is a lot stronger than a human body, or a human bone I should say."

Kincaid agreed that when Kubota warned users to never carry riders, it was intended to communicate that the operator's chair was the only safe place to ride on the machine. Kincaid stated, more than once, that riding on the skid steer was taking a "calculated risk." In earlier depositions, Kincaid acknowledged that if he had followed the warning not to ride the skid steer, then "[w]e wouldn't be here."

Kentzler testified that he was aware he should not operate the skid steer with someone riding it. He also knew of and understood the warning label instructing him never to carry riders on the skid steer. Kentzler explained that he knew that raising the

4 loader arms on the skid steer with a person riding on the outside placed that person at risk of serious injury. But Kentzler also informed the jury that catching a ride on the skid steer was a "pretty common" experience in performing farming tasks.

Jeff Brawner testified that, as a third-generation Reno County farmer, he started working with farm equipment in grade school. Brawner regularly hired teenagers, including Kincaid, to operate farm equipment. Brawner went on to explain that workers catch rides on farm equipment, including skid steers, and he allowed it despite his awareness of the risks and the warnings against it. He testified that the only hazard he could think of associated with a skid steer was falling from it.

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