Moline Plow Co. v. Wilson

1918 OK 373, 176 P. 970, 74 Okla. 89, 1918 Okla. LEXIS 183
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedJune 25, 1918
Docket8805
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 1918 OK 373 (Moline Plow Co. v. Wilson) 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
Moline Plow Co. v. Wilson, 1918 OK 373, 176 P. 970, 74 Okla. 89, 1918 Okla. LEXIS 183 (Okla. 1918).

Opinion

Opinion by

SPRINGER, C.

In this opinion the plaintiff in error will he referred to as plaintiff and the defendant in error will, be referred to as defendant; that being their status in the lower court.

This was an action commenced in the. county court of Carter county by the Moline Plow Company against the defendant to recover the sum of $402.27, principal and interest due on various notes.

*90 Tlie first count of the petition is a declaration of indebtedness of the defendant to tlie nlaintiff upon a promissory note for $80, and it is alleged in the petition that the note was given as part, of the purchase price of an Adriance grain binder.

The petition in this case contains several counts, a defense being made only as to the first.

On April 2, 1916, the defendant filed an answer, the .first count, of which contains a general denial of the allegations of the petition. The answer also admits the execution by the defendant of all the various notes sued on. In his answer the defendant further alleges by way of cross-petition that at the time he executed the note sued on in the first count of this action he had a very large crop of wheat and oats, which was about to mature and was about ready to cut, and that the agent of the plaintiff, the Moline Plow Company, came to Springer and to this farm, and that he explained to the agent that he was buying the grain binder for the purpose of saving iho crop of grain; that the agent was shown the crop, and fully appraised of all the facts and circumstances m con-ection with it, and knew that it was necessary for the defendant to obtain a binder that would cut and save his crop, and knew that, unless the binder that the plaintiff was selling the defendant would cut, hind, and save the crop, it would be a great loss and detriment to the defendant, and having full knowledge of these facts, that it would thereafter be too late for the defendant to obtain another binder to cut and bind the crop, and. with full knowledge of all these facts, the agent sold the binder to the defendant and guaranteed it; that said hinder was guaranteed by the agent of the Moline Plow,Company to do the work, and to cut, bind, and save the crop and but for the agreement of said agent the defendant would not have purchased the binder; that the binder was not as guaranteed; that it would not cut the grain, and it became impossible to cut the grain, and that defendant notified ,T. M. Arnold, who was a dealer and agent for the plaintiff, of the failure of the machine to do the work, and that the plaintiff sent a man to inspect the binder and to repair the same, hut that he was unable to repair the binder or fix it so as to make it do the work properly and to bind the grain and save the crop, and that, owing to this fact, the defendant returned the binder to the dealer, J. M. Arnold: that said 'warranty was oral; that the defendant first gave a written order for the binder but said contract was afterward abandoned, and another binder, different from that originally ordered, was delivered to the defendant; that by reason of said binder being defective and not doing the work as above specified, the plaintiff was damaged in the sum of $165, the price paid for the binder, and the -further sum of $2,000, as will hereinafter be shown; that by reason of said binder not being as guaranteed, by the breach of warranty above specified, and the said defendant not being able to cut and bind said grain, the defendant lost 100 acres of wheat, 150 acres of oats, about 50 acres of barley, and that said wheat was of the value of $14 per acre, said oats of the vahte of $10 per acre; and that the defendant was damaged in said sum, but expressly waives all damages except the sum of $1,000.

There is some testimony in the record of both the plaintiff and defendant that when the order for the binder was signed it provided for a machine carrying an eight-foot right-hand blade. On being informed that the factory did not manufacture a machine carrying an eight-foot right-hand blade, the defendant agreed that he would accept the. machine with the seven-foot right-hand blade. Whether the original contract was changed so as to make it provide for the machine with the seven-foot right-hand blade, or whether a new contract was drawn up and signed, the evidence of the defendant is not just clear, nor do we think it makes, any difference. The original contract was never abandoned, and a,t most it was changed by agreement and consent of both parties so as to provide for a machine carrying a seven-foot right-hand blade, instead of a machine carrying an eight-foot right-hand blade.

The testimony in this case shows that the defendant is a farmer well skilled in the use and operation of farm machinery; that he is a farmer of more than ordinary skill and ability we think this record conclusively proves. According to his testimony he had owned at various times during his farming experience three Deering machines, two McCormick machines before his experience with the Adriance. His testimony shows that he had raised and threshed as much as 6,200 bushels of oats in one season. The evidence in this case for the defendant shows that the Adriance was received at his farm, 'which seems to be located near a place called Springer. At that time he was the owner of a McCormick harvester. When the Adriance was first put in operation a 20-horse power tractor was used as the power or propulsion. The McCormick was attached immedi- *91 uteiy to the tractor, and the Adrianee was attached to the McCormick. The evidence of the defendant shows that the Adrianee caused trouble from the beginning. It appears trom the testimony in this case that when the wheat was cut and delivered to the platform it was there received onto a canvas, which carried it to a place where it was received between two more canvases, and from that place elevated into the retaining springs and binder trip; that the sheaves which were regulated as to size by the binding trip were packed to their proper size by packers; that after the packers had sufficiently compressed the straw to cause the binder trip to automatically release the needle passed over and into the knotter, and in that way the sheaves were tied and the discharge arms at the same time automatically discharged them onto the carrier.

It seems from the testimony that the Adriance binder delivered to the defendant would not elevate the grain; that the needle would not work properly into the knotter, and that it would not tie the grain; that it would choke up, and that the binder trip and discharge arms would not work so as to keep the machine free from the grain; and that the machine would become choked down and the bull wheels refuse to revolve, and would drag on the ground.

The evidence shows that Mr. Arnold, the agent for the plaintiff, was there at the time of the demonstration. The testimony of the witnesses for the defendant tends to support the allegations of the answer as to the defective work done by the machine. Their testimony, however, was directly contradicted by the evidence of the plaintiff.

The evidence shows that on the first day the machine was attempted to be operated, and after a short trial, it was detached from the tractor and left standing in the field the remainder of that day. The testimony as to why it was detached from the tractor as between the plaintiff and the defendant is conflicting.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1918 OK 373, 176 P. 970, 74 Okla. 89, 1918 Okla. LEXIS 183, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moline-plow-co-v-wilson-okla-1918.