All kinds of Branson issues

[mtnmn]

Glad to hear you are happy with your Branson now and the nightmare is over. I bought my '09-3820i TLB from Daves Tractor in Red Bluff. It's done a lot of hard work for me and I hate to hear that someone is having trouble with theirs because I know they are a tough tractor and shouldn't bend and break like that. All said, Dave, Rob and the entire shop have been a great dealer to deal with. I must say though I haven't had much problems with mine. The problems I had were more my doing, but they always answered the phone and got me straight. Thanks Dave. I guess I'm plugging for Daves Tractor now. Just greatfull.
Happy tractoring in Montana.

 

[backintheday]

Dave seems to do alot for all on this forum. The toughness of the tractor is why I chose it, I have ran the **** out of it this summer, here are some pictures of the house my wife and I are building and a few of the many jobs the tractor has been doing. 36' long glulam, my Dad backfilling the 130' long 10' deep trench for the water line, a view from inside the trench looking up at my wife running the BH and a cool shot of the SW corner of the house. Notice all the haze, it's from the many fires of the west including the 3 around me. . Sorry for the strange picture layout, my first time posting pictures.

 

[Gary Fowler]

281393[/ATTACH]cool shot of the SW corner of the house. QUOTE]

Being in an unsupported trench more than 4 feet deep is not a good idea. OSHA regs forbid it due to possible collapse. Please take care and avoid working in un-supported sides of ditches, even a four foot one can hurt you if you have your head down and it caves off. Sometimes it seems to be stable when first dug but can start caving off as it dries out. Lots of folks been killed from trench cave ins. You just cant dig them out fast enough to prevent death when it happens.

 

[heron]

I second that from Gary. I have been one of those buried people. Sandy 5' trench, I'm the laborer backfilling over the water line with sand. Use to put in many feet of water line a day for state jobs...got in a hurry used no box and bang, trench collapsed and buried me up to my waste with my foot caught under the pipe.
Moral of the story always use a trench box or "v" the heck out of the trench.

 

[backintheday]

I knew I was going to hear about that. I understand what your all saying, I've been to many trenching classes and know all the rules, I have no excuess but that is the main reason why my wife was there, to keep an eye on things. It is a a class 1 soil though, hard stuff!!

 

[DavesTractor]

Thanks for the kind words guys! Dave

 

[Yalerider]

Wow what a story. All i can say is i have had my 3510 for years and no real issues other than a slightly bent bucket from pushing over trees. Time to go see the neighbor again so he can straighten with his excavator bucket. Glad to hear it worked out.

 

[backintheday]

Hi all,
Guess what, yep I bent another ram, same as the last one. I haven't used it since I last posted, I was diging around 6.5' deep in soft dirt when it gave way. When the ram is fully extended it can't take the force from the bucket curling. The good news is the dealer replaced it in less than a week and it's looking like they are going to upgrade me to the next bigger BH, the 860. Of course I will be paying for it but there going to make me a good deal. I am thinking about trading it for a front mount snowblower but I'm not sure yet, anybody have any thoughts on the capabilities of the 860? My 760 is kinda weak, it has a hard time digging in the hard dirt I live on. Is the 860 more powerfull, there aren't any specs on the website.

Thanks guys.

 

[backintheday]

Broke the subframe on my BH today. Starting to think I need a bigger tractor, like a case 580 or something...

 

[DavesTractor]

Broke the subframe on my BH today. Starting to think I need a bigger tractor, like a case 580 or something...

I sold a TLB to a guy a few years back. He was 6'6" tall, 320 lbs and not fat. He told me right up front "you can put me in a rubber room with two anvils. 15 minutes later I'll have broke one and lost the other." He didn't actually break much and he's a super customer. But what he was telling me is to sell him the industrial $2400 box scraper, not the $550 unit, and the heaviest backhoe, etc. He bought top of the line, didn't break much and has had the tractor 7 years now. But when he latches on to something with his 4-n-1, just like when he grabs something with his hands, he expects to lift it or tear it apart. He has no low-speed or gentle mode. You don't sell a guy like that anything but the best you have.

We have sold a lot of Bransons over the years. We generally sell the Amerequip made 8620 hoe on them. We have had very few problems. Never had a subframe break. We've had a couple of guys bend bucket rams, but that is generally due to misuse or abuse. You see, when you have that bucket curled all the way in, it's ram is completely extended and in it's weakest position. If the teeth of the bucket are caught on something and you pull up the boom hard, there is no where for the oil to escape the cylinder since it is beyond the pressure relief. So a cylinder that will only see 2400 psi through the valve, may spike to over 5000 psi. If it is all the way extended, it's tough on things. A sharp shop can install a load relief between the valve and the bucket cylinder and set it fairly high. That will allow the bucket cylinder to close instead of bend.

Some might wonder why there are no load reliefs standard. It's a matter of cost and the fact that seldom does anyone bend a ram like this. If you take a valve setup on a nice excavator, it may cost more than the entire backhoe for a small tractor. And I have bent excavator rams, but I knew when I did it that I was asking for trouble since I had the pressure reliefs set a touch high. That machine would dig like no other, but over the years I bent two bucket rams. Both times ripping through roots with the bucket curled all the way and bouncing the unit a little with the main boom ram. Works super, or busts things...either the root or the ram. Eventually we set the pressure back a bit. Which brings up the thought, have they checked the pressures on your unit? They might be high.