Charles Machine Ditch Witch, model years 2018 to 2019. Filed by Charles Machine Works Inc and reported to NHTSA on 21 June 2019. 796 vehicles potentially affected.
What the notice says Charles Machine Works Inc. (Charles Machine) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Ditch Witch VT9, VT12, VT14, VT17, VT20 and VT24 trailers. The brake wire terminals may have been improperly crimped, which can result in the trailer brakes failing to apply when commanded.
Is your vehicle included? Check with your VIN at NHTSA, or ask a dealer. This page is an independent copy of the notice, kept so you can see what changed after it was published. It is not the authority, and the authority’s own text is the one to act on.
What owners ask about this recall
- Which vehicles does recall 19V487 cover?
- Charles Machine Ditch Witch, model years 2018-2019.
- What is wrong with them?
- Charles Machine Works Inc. (Charles Machine) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Ditch Witch VT9, VT12, VT14, VT17, VT20 and VT24 trailers. The brake wire terminals may have been improperly crimped, which can result in the trailer brakes failing to apply when commanded.
- What can happen if it is not put right?
- If the trailer brakes do not apply as expected, the distance required to stop the trailer may be lengthened, increasing the risk of crash.
- Is there a fix yet?
- Yes, and it is free. Charles Machine has notified owners, and dealers will replace the brake terminals with a machine terminal, free of charge. The recall began June 25, 2019. Owners may contact Charles Machine customer service at 1-800-654-6481.
- What should I do now?
- Check your own vehicle by its VIN with NHTSA, which is the record to act on.
Answered from the register this site holds. NHTSA is the record to act on.
What the authority says can happen if this is not fixed: “If the trailer brakes do not apply as expected, the distance required to stop the trailer may be lengthened, increasing the risk of crash.”
affected
in the notice
caught
| Campaign | 19V487 |
|---|---|
| Filed by | Charles Machine Works Inc |
| System at fault | Service Brakes, Electric |
| Reported to NHTSA | 21 June 2019 |
| Model years | 2018-2019 |
| Vehicles named | CHARLES MACHINE DITCH WITCH |
What the notice says today
The consequence
If the trailer brakes do not apply as expected, the distance required to stop the trailer may be lengthened, increasing the risk of crash.
The remedy
Charles Machine has notified owners, and dealers will replace the brake terminals with a machine terminal, free of charge. The recall began June 25, 2019. Owners may contact Charles Machine customer service at 1-800-654-6481.
What it said before
This campaign is in the register but not yet in the dated wording archive, so we cannot yet say whether its text has moved. It enters the archive on the next pass.
Last checked . No change has been recorded in the wording.
The models named here, across their whole recall history
How to cite this record
Quoting the wording on this page means quoting a version, so the date belongs in the citation:
CarsMultiverse, recall 19V487, wording as read on 16 September 2026. https://carsmultiverse.com/recall/19v487/
The cross-border matches used on this site are deposited as a citable dataset: doi:10.5281/zenodo.22087136. The recall wording itself is published by the national authority named above and is theirs, not ours.
The recall record and its wording are published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and are US Government public domain. The dated archive, the comparison and any before-and-after above are CarsMultiverse. How fresh every engine behind this page is, is public on the status page. To check a specific vehicle, use NHTSA’s own VIN lookup.
Other Charles Machine notices we hold
- 19V490: 2018 Ditch Witch VT17, 2018-2019 VT20 and VT24 trailers
- 18V727: 2018 Ditch Witch VT14, VT20 and VT24 trailers with HX30, HX50 or HX75 vacuum excavators equipped with an optional jib boom
- 16V541: model year 2016 Ditch Witch T14MV trailers manufactured June 23, 2015, to July 01, 2016
- 15V435: model year 2014-2015 Ditch Witch T14MV trailers manufactured December 1, 2014, to June 22, 2015
- 15V159: model year 2002-2015 Ditch Witch T26 trailers
All 6 Charles Machine campaigns we hold · Every manufacturer in the record
The fingerprint of this notice
We take a SHA-256 of each of the three blocks of text the authority publishes and keep the first eight characters. As we last read campaign 19V487 on 23 August 2026, they were:
- Defect summary
9446f77b - Consequence
d7362493 - Remedy
37eeaf49
We first read this notice on 21 August 2026. It has not moved since. If it ever does, these characters will not match, and the change will be dated here.
The wording we hold for 19V487 · how the whole register is watched
This notice names one vehicle among several registers that have written about it. Every notice this site holds for the Charles Machine Ditch Witch, in all seven, is kept on that vehicle's own page, with the newest in each.
Put this notice on your site
A small badge that links here and names the register's reference. It costs one line of HTML and needs no key.
The badge is free to use. It links to this page and nowhere else, and it never shows advertising.
Owners of these cars
No register publishes what happens after the letter. Owners do: tell us, in two taps.
Anonymous: no account, no cookie, nothing you type is stored beyond these choices. Figures appear once 3 owners have answered, and are published with the record under CC BY 4.0.