a tractor trailer parked in a field at night

Mower Light Kits Recalled Nationwide Over Fire Risk, and Owners Are Being Told to Stop Using Them Immediately, No Exceptions Whatsoever

September 2, 202632Views

Minutes Read

Excel Industries is recalling about 1,800 Accessory LED Light Kits sold for Hustler and BigDog ride-on mowers after finding the light bars can overheat or produce flames, posing a fire hazard, according to the CPSC’s recall notice. The kits sold for $180 to $330 through Hustler and BigDog dealerships and online, and no injuries have been reported.

A black ride-on lawnmower parked on green grass near a red barn during summer. — Photo by Erik Mclean on Pexels

Key Points

Units recalled: approximately 1,800
Hazard: the LED light bars can overheat or produce flames, posing a fire hazard
Sold at: Hustler and BigDog dealerships nationwide, and online at hustlerturf.com and bigdogmower.com accessory pages
Sold: April 2020 through July 2026, for $180 to $330
Incidents reported: none as of the recall date

What’s Included

Two LED light bars packaged with a mounting bracket
Sold as an aftermarket accessory kit for Hustler and BigDog ride-on mowers
Manufactured by Excel Industries LLC, of Hesston, Kansas
Sold under both the Hustler and BigDog mower brand names

Unlike a defect confined to how a product performs under stress, this recall covers the light kit’s basic operation — the hazard exists any time the kit is powered on, not just under unusual conditions. That’s part of why the recall notice frames the required response as immediate rather than something to schedule around.

What Consumers Should Do

Stop using the light kit immediately — do not power it on again, even briefly
Contact the dealer where the mower or kit was purchased to arrange removal and a refund
Removal can be done at the dealership or, with guidance, at home before the kit is returned
Call Excel Industries at 888-848-6038, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or email [email protected] with questions

The recall, announced Aug. 27, 2026, covers kits sold over more than six years, from April 2020 through July 2026 — meaning owners who added the accessory to an older Hustler or BigDog mower years ago are just as much a part of this recall as someone who bought one this summer. Because the kits were sold as an add-on rather than bundled with every mower, Excel Industries is relying on dealers and owners checking their own equipment rather than a single serial-number lookup covering an entire model line.

Warm Khaki Is Replacing a Decade of Gray-and-Greige Walls in American Homes, and Sherwin-Williams’ Own 2026 Pick Confirms the Shift Is Real

84% of Homeowners Who Finish an Outdoor Remodel Say They Immediately Want to Redo Another Part of the House Right After, NAR’s Own Data Shows

Aria Hastings

Parenting is hard. Like, really hard. And somehow the internet has found a way to make it even harder — between the expert opinions that contradict each other, the Pinterest-perfect nurseries, and the celebrity moms who look like they have it all together before the ink on the birth certificate is even dry. It's a lot. That's kind of why Aria started writing about it. Aria doesn't claim to have all the answers, and honestly, that's what makes her so easy to read. She writes the way most of us think — real, a little messy, and always honest. Her approach to parenting has never been about doing it perfectly. It's about doing it intentionally, and giving yourself enough grace to actually enjoy it somewhere in between the chaos. You'll find her covering everything from the everyday stuff — routines, sibling dynamics, screen time debates, the mental load of just keeping little humans alive and happy — to the bigger, harder conversations that don't always have a clean answer. She's not here to lecture. She's here to sit with you in it. She also keeps tabs on the celebrity mom world, and she'll be the first to admit it's partly because it's fun. But there's something genuinely refreshing about watching someone famous have a parenting moment that's just as relatable as yours. Aria finds the stories worth talking about and actually has something interesting to say about them. If you've ever closed a parenting article feeling worse about yourself than when you opened it, Aria's writing is the antidote to that. She wants you to walk away feeling like you've got this — because you do.