Branson Front Wheel Axle Failures

[CliffNeudorf]

Hello

I am in need of help and advice from Branson operators.

Similar to BumpandNan on the "Branson Warranty Troubles" thread I have experienced a front axle break failure this past fall. The difference is that this is an out of warranty failure, my tractor is a 2009 3510H model. With it, the wheel assembly came clean off with no warning. Please see pictures attached. While I am not seeking warranty I am quite concerned that this type of failure represents a safety issue which should be the subject of a competent investigation and corrective action as found necessary. I would appreciate hearing from anybody who has experienced such a failure. Please share with me your experiences and concerns in this thread or by private email.

I believe this investigation should look into the manufacturing process of the axle, is it made of two pieces welded together? or, is it a single piece construction? I have concerns that this may have been a bad friction weld that has failed. So far Branson Tractor considers this failure closed because it is out of warranty.

I think that a failure investigation of this nature should be led by Kukje Machinery who are the designers and manufacturers of the product. They are the experts who would have the most knowledge and understanding of the axle manufacturing processes and the corresponding failure modes of the axle.

My tractor, as indeed are many tractors of this type, is often used on a public highway and on roadways, failure at such a time could lead to catastrophic results or on a side hill turn for that matter. In my case the wheel came off while turning over a compost pile. Hardly an excessive load. This leaves me with an uncertainty considering the LH front wheel axle which had not failed but which is of the same age in hours and calendar time as the axle that failed.

For those that are interested, I have attached some pictures of the tractor and wheel axle as failed. The wheel lies on the ground as it came to rest after departing the tractor.

 

[Cougsfan]

Just for reference, i have broke a couple of axles over the years in a very similar manner. Once on a Ford 8N and again on a Ferguson TO35. They were 2wd and much easier to fix though. Replacements were readily available at tractor salvage yards. You won't be so lucky probably. Let us know how the repair goes.

 

[coralhead]

What is the primary use of the tractor? Hard surface (gravel/concrete/asphalt)? Is the 4 wheel assist engaged all the time? I only use the 4wd when it is absolutely needed. Constant use of 4wd, especially on hard surfaces when turning, puts a lot of pressure on the axel stubs. To get a feel of what is happening, if you have a 4wd truck/suv, engage the 4wd and drive it slowly on a hard surface and go in a circle. It will turn but you can feel the resistance as the tires do not slip on the road surface.

Seeing that you have industrial tires puts a lot more tire surface in contact with the ground. The front tires need to be able to slip a bit in order to relieve the pressure.

My .04 worth on the subject.

 

[fried1765]

Hello

I am in need of help and advice from Branson operators.

Similar to BumpandNan on the "Branson Warranty Troubles" thread I have experienced a front axle break failure this past fall. The difference is that this is an out of warranty failure, my tractor is a 2009 3510H model. With it, the wheel assembly came clean off with no warning. Please see pictures attached. While I am not seeking warranty I am quite concerned that this type of failure represents a safety issue which should be the subject of a competent investigation and corrective action as found necessary. I would appreciate hearing from anybody who has experienced such a failure. Please share with me your experiences and concerns in this thread or by private email.

I believe this investigation should look into the manufacturing process of the axle, is it made of two pieces welded together? or, is it a single piece construction? I have concerns that this may have been a bad friction weld that has failed. So far Branson Tractor considers this failure closed because it is out of warranty.

I think that a failure investigation of this nature should be led by Kukje Machinery who are the designers and manufacturers of the product. They are the experts who would have the most knowledge and understanding of the axle manufacturing processes and the corresponding failure modes of the axle.

My tractor, as indeed are many tractors of this type, is often used on a public highway and on roadways, failure at such a time could lead to catastrophic results or on a side hill turn for that matter. In my case the wheel came off while turning over a compost pile. Hardly an excessive load. This leaves me with an uncertainty considering the LH front wheel axle which had not failed but which is of the same age in hours and calendar time as the axle that failed.

For those that are interested, I have attached some pictures of the tractor and wheel axle as failed. The wheel lies on the ground as it came to rest after departing the tractor.

View attachment 498382View attachment 498383View attachment 498384View attachment 498385View attachment 498386

IF you can find them, I think I would replace BOTH front axles!
It will very likely be far more difficult to find one later,...when/if the other side fails.
Then too: If they are both new, you will have eliminated the worry factor.

 

[CliffNeudorf]

Just for reference, i have broke a couple of axles over the years in a very similar manner. Once on a Ford 8N and again on a Ferguson TO35. They were 2wd and much easier to fix though. Replacements were readily available at tractor salvage yards. You won't be so lucky probably. Let us know how the repair goes.

Hello Cougsfan, thanks for the comments.

My dealer very quickly repaired the tractor and returned the tractor to me. They recognized that I was starting to plant my garlic and needed the tractor. It has great super slow cruse capability. Kudos to them for getting it back to me as quickly as they did.

Crap does happen and I can accept that however this to me is a significant safety issue. Also the failure is eerily similar to another failure I had once been exposed to. It was a friction weld failure where a turbine rotor was welded to a turbine shaft. Kukje and Branson need to be transparent on this issue. Are they using friction welding or aren't they? If they are using friction welds on these axles, some serious review of this failure leading to a more in-depth look at their manufacturing processes and quality control needs be undertaken. In the best of companies quality escapes can and do occur. I still have not heard from Branson Tractor outside of the fact that their service rep has declared the case is closed because the tractor is out of warranty.

Cheers Cliff

 

[CliffNeudorf]

What is the primary use of the tractor? Hard surface (gravel/concrete/asphalt)? Is the 4 wheel assist engaged all the time? I only use the 4wd when it is absolutely needed. Constant use of 4wd, especially on hard surfaces when turning, puts a lot of pressure on the axel stubs. To get a feel of what is happening, if you have a 4wd truck/suv, engage the 4wd and drive it slowly on a hard surface and go in a circle. It will turn but you can feel the resistance as the tires do not slip on the road surface.

Seeing that you have industrial tires puts a lot more tire surface in contact with the ground. The front tires need to be able to slip a bit in order to relieve the pressure.

My .04 worth on the subject.

Hi Coralhead, thank you very much for your comments and interest. We normally do not use the 4wd feature unless we need to, for instance in soft ground or snow where we have traction issues. In my view if one accepts that the times we have used the tractor in 4wd are sufficient to lead to this failure I personally feel that the tractor drive system is under designed. I do however believe the tractor has designed into it the capability to handle average driving that respects the conditions set in the operators handbook. I personally believe that Kukje has experienced some quality escapes which they may or may not be aware.

It would be quite helpful if Branson Tractor as the front line responder to the operator could be more transparent in their approach to these type of problems. I.E. what have they (Kukje) seen in terms of failure reports?, how deep of an investigation have they (Kukje) conducted in each of the failures that have been reported? have they (Kukje) requested and tested the broken bits through metallurgical analysis to see what the failure mode was and determined what is needed to correct possible future failures? Does Kukje have a process whereby their distributors collect evidence of failures and forward those collections to Kukje for analysis? Coralhead, this is where my head is at this at, I am not used to manufacturers and distributors going dark at a time that they are needed.

 

[CliffNeudorf]

IF you can find them, I think I would replace BOTH front axles!
It will very likely be far more difficult to find one later,...when/if the other side fails.
Then too: If they are both new, you will have eliminated the worry factor.

Fried, I really appreciate your input, I actually am thinking of doing that. I have learned enough in researching this issue that I feel quite confident that I could easily do this work should the need arise in future.

 

[CADplans]

Not trying to be critical,,, but,,, these tractors require some minimum ballast on the rear when using the loader.

Your pic does not show any ballast,, although, it may be hidden.
Do you use rear ballast?

 

[aczlan]

Not trying to be critical,,, but,,, these tractors require some minimum ballast on the rear when using the loader.

Your pic does not show any ballast,, although, it may be hidden.
Do you use rear ballast?

We had a tractor at work that had almost the same failure from overloading the front axle.
The dealer said that it didn't need ballast, but without ballast it was over the front axle rating with the loader/blade off the ground. Adding 2000# on the 3 point took enough weight off of the front axle to get it under the rating.

Aaron Z

 

[LincTex]

Not trying to be critical,,, but,,, these tractors require some minimum ballast on the rear when using the loader.

Your pic does not show any ballast,, although, it may be hidden.
Do you use rear ballast?

I agree.... and although you were just moving compost that day,
It was probably a hard shock a while back that started this path in motion.

9 years old, 1558 hours, unknown history, not a regular occurrence
= Kukje won't investigate unless it becomes a COMMON problem, (which it isn't)