Branson 2400h

[chewnins]

Newbie here, I have been borrowing an older Kubota B7000 or an older 8n from neighbors here for the last few years, and it is finally time to bite the bullet and buy one. I am "blessed" to live near a larger city and have my choices made all the harder by the numerous options.

Here is what I have:

~4 acres flat all pasture that blackberries are starting to claim cross fenced (48" gates, minimum between posts 56")
~300yard driveway

I want to be able to use at least a 4ft brush hog although a 54-60" would be nice. Want to be able to till a small (40x60-80') garden, move barkdust/firewood, run a post digger and grade my driveway, possible backhoe later, but could (wife will say should) rent.

I am also a taller individual and have found any of the BX or Mahindra Max line far too cramped to be safe (knees bump everything). I was going to look at New Holland and noticed the dealer also carried Branson. I have been lurking on the site for a while now doing research, and can't find anything about the Branson 2400h units. I drove one around on the lot, and there was alot more room especially with the side by side HST pedals. Just wondering if they are going to last or if I am better off continuing the search.

So far I have test driven/rented:

B7100 (look like a clown on it)
B8200 (slightly less clown like, didn't like the no-PS and wobble HST, but it is for sale)
8n (plenty of room, no bells and whistles, loader a pain)
Mahindra Max22 (can't turn), Mahindra 2216 (want an HST, but could fit)
New Holland Boomer 25 (nice, but a little out of my price range)

I have not looked at Deere yet mainly due to my budget, but am planning on getting over there soon. Are there any others in the ~12-13k w/fel that I am missing, or do they not exist?

Thanks

 

[oldnslo]

If you are looking at new you will be hard pressed to find a Kubota or JD for less than 18K with a FEL and MMM. Kubota B2620 or JD 2520 would be similar size and used they are all in the 15K+ range.

I have not seen nor driven the 2400H but the dealer did give me an attractive quote. Only question I have is the 1200X FEL Vs the 00. The 00 seem a little under powered for this size tractor. The 1200X seems comparable to JD and Kubota models.

Quality concerns: Don't have an answer for that. Seem like a heavy built machine but it's what inside that counts.

Roy

 

[PapeCAT]

Hi chewnins

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/zetor-century-branson/242683-branson-2800h-bl00-loader-new.html

I'll give the branson/kukje "00" series a thumbs up. If you want to run the larger brush hog you might want to go with the 2800H. It is the same 1.1 L motor as the 2400 but with a turbo added. The 28 HP is conservative, and with these bransons the PTO HP is high in comparison ~ 23 PTO HP for the 2800.

I've only had my 2800H for a month and 20 hours but TBH I have no complaints. You'll not see very much info about the bransons online on forums. (which is a good thing because broken Bransons are not prodding owners to go online for answers or to gripe)

I wanted to stay under 25K for a sub compact but ended up going to the larger size tractor with the 16" rear wheel. The 12" rear wheel on the subcompacts is a little small IMO and equivalent to a garden tractor.

There is a branson dealer in central oregon that seems to have great prices and move a lot of product (even on ebay). I almost ordered through him but chose to stick local and went with a demo unit he had. It was 12K for 2800H with the BL00 loader.

BL00 loader vs. 1200X: I wanted and drooled over a 1200X loader / 6430X BH package for teh 2800H and got a quote for 18K for those from the central oregon guy which my local dealer could not match.

BL00 loader:

The BL00 loader is made by Ansen, a sister company to Kukje in south korea. In addition to the below I was happy to see that Ansen makes the big loaders for even the 8050 series tractor (the BIG one). You can see the Ansen sticker on the 8050 in the branson calendar if you look closely

At the time of purchase, I hesitantly went with the BL00 setup he had (because I wanted the 1200X with more load capacity listed and the quick attach bucket) on the lot but honestly I like the little loader a lot. It digs and lifts an overfilled pile of wet dirt with no problem. It seems like it will almost want to tip the back wheels up if too much load were lifted even with water in the tires and a 5" box scraper attached. The BL00 loader is BEEFY - check out the 1" plate around the frame area. Sure it isn't one of those nice hydroformed curved loaders etc. like the 1200X but that is OK. One thing I was surprised about was that the valve doesn't let you use two hydro circuits at once unless one is going down, of course. But you can't do the 7 oclock position tilt and lift. No problem though, it doesn't slow me down much at all and I've gotten fast at digging up the dirt piles from the box scraper and filling the bucket with no issue.

The 3point hitch works GREAT, no issue with jumpyness etc. and I was happy to see the position control on the 2800 series.

Motor:

Kukje makes rebadged JD (6000 series I believe)

Kukje is contracted to make the cummins A series motors as well, which is what is in the 00 series. It *is* an unbadged cummins A series 1.1L. I am a big cummins fan and have had numerous dodge diesels over the years that I have restored bought/sold etc. I was very happy to see a fleetguard filter on the little motor when I first popped the hood. The turbo is a great feature that adds power and gains fuel economy. All diesels should be married to a turbo IMO... That feature alone (cummins turbo diesel) puts branson ahead of the rest. I know yanmar and kubota are good but they have mastered the econo-engineering at this point whereas the Kukje/cummins 1.1 A series is a true industrial motor with hardened valve seats, forged steel crank and camshafts that are made to last.

I was a hardcore JD green dyed in the wool lover for as long as I could remember and I really assumed that I'd get one some day. But the smallest "True" JD (besides the new 1 series subcompact with a yanmar) is the 4120 with the JD powertech. If I'm going to buy a japanese motored Japanese tractor I might as well consider all makes/models.

I did ALL of my homework and visited ALL of the dealers within a 100 mile radius of me and branson got my business.

If you want stories from my other brand experiences and what made me NOT choose them we can go there as well. But this is way too long as it is (guess that is what happens when you are flying across the country with nothing else to do)

 

[oldnslo]

papecat,
appreciate the information on the BL00 Vs the 1200X. I asked my dealer to quote the cost difference since part of the reason I am looking is for more loader capacity vs my BX1850. The BL00 is rated about 50% more lift than the BX while the 1200X is 100% more.

I would also be using the 3PH for a 4 ft bush hog and 54" tandem disk that is around 700 lbs or more. The BX will barely lift it without the FEL on. 100 lbs of suit case will not keep the front on the ground. I want to dig / transplant some more small trees with FEL and the little BX struggles with this task. Not the tractors fault either.

Is the differential lock, HST pedals, & brake all on the right side? (Literature does not give a real clear picture of this) If yes, how many right feet do the koreans have?

Like you I was raised JD green, owned some Fords, now considering Branson. Dad will roll in his grave to see me on "Red" tractor....

Roy

 

[PapeCAT]

The FWD/REV HST, RT/LT Brakes, AND Diff lock are indeed on the right foot.

With these 00 bransons the Hydro models came out after the original geared models. They seem to simply be geared models set up with a clutch and everything but with Hydros plumbed in. I like it though. I can heel toe the Diff lock and Fwd hydro with no problem. I like having the right/left brake option as well. If I really needed to do a sharp one wheel brake turn I can with the heel toe method as well or put the cruise control on momentarily. It is something that they didn't simply remove from the standard trans setup. My dealer told me it was redundant but also to maintain street legal / tag eligibility it needed brakes. I use the brakes on a hill to swap from H to L etc if needed to keep from rolling that is about it. The parking brake setup works well too.

 

[oldnslo]

papecat,
again many thanks for the info on the foot controls. I am waiting for the dealer to get one of these on the lot to do the test drive. He said he should have one first part of June so that isn't to long of a wait

Roy

 

[JRTJH]

I bought a 2800H the end of January. At that time, Branson had a "free FEL" with total cost out the door of $13250 with a 4 year warranty. That was with loaded tires and the BL00 Loader. They wouldn't even talk about exchanging the FEL for the 1200. Dealer said he wouldn't want to upset me with the price increase. He said that it simply wasn't worth it for what the BL00 is going for. I got it home, played with it a little, didn't have room in the pole barn at that time, so it sat under a tarp outside. I used the FEL to move some snow after a big storm. The tractor started on the first try and ran great. I have a KingKutter 4' brush hog, it turns it well and I've mowed some pretty big saplings without any problem. Implements I have are: 6' back blade, 4' box blade, 5' York rake, bucket forks and the brush hog. I recently passed the 50 hour mark, right now have 61 hours on it and did my own fluid changes at 50 hours. The purchase included filters for that oil change and a set of maintenance manuals for the tractor and the engine.

I've moved about 80 cu yards of sand from the road in front of our house, put down 100 cu yards of crushed limestone and that little tractor never missed a beat doing it. Like has been said, the BL00 loader is a beefy one and it'll lift the rear tires off the ground if you're not careful.

We've got about 10 acres of gently sloping wooded property that goes down to the lake. I'd looked at different brands, but for the money, I'm glad I chose Branson. It does what I need and I've still got less invested than the local JD or Kubota dealer wanted for a comparable tractor alone.

 

[chewnins]

Thanks for the responses. Last weekend I checked out a JD 2040 and a Kioti CK20. Neither seemed to fit as well, or be priced as nicely. I will be visiting my local new holland/branson dealer again this weekend to try and figure out if the 2800 or 2400 will be coming home with me.

Do you think the 4 extra ponies is worth the extra 1000? What about extra maintenance from a turbo, I know they have been used on trucks/cars for a long time, but still worries me a little about one more thing to break.

 

[oldnslo]

Thanks for the responses.

Do you think the 4 extra ponies is worth the extra 1000? What about extra maintenance from a turbo, I know they have been used on trucks/cars for a long time, but still worries me a little about one more thing to break.

Chewin,
What are you going to be doing with this tractor. The only time you would notice the extra ponies is doing heavy PTO work. I doubt you would notice much difference on the draw bar pull since I suspect the tires will probably spin before the engine works to hard.

Turbo's require a little more care but not enough to scare me away. Biggest concern with a turbo is to let the engine idle so they can cool down after being run hard.

good luck on your decision

Roy

 

[JRTJH]

Thanks for the responses. Last weekend I checked out a JD 2040 and a Kioti CK20. Neither seemed to fit as well, or be priced as nicely. I will be visiting my local new holland/branson dealer again this weekend to try and figure out if the 2800 or 2400 will be coming home with me.

Do you think the 4 extra ponies is worth the extra 1000? What about extra maintenance from a turbo, I know they have been used on trucks/cars for a long time, but still worries me a little about one more thing to break.

The way the dealer explained it and what I found out when I started using the bush hog is going uphill. As I said, our property slopes to the lake. The Branson tractors ( I suppose most tractors in this size) are pretty narrow and I just don't feel comfortable hogging with the slope, so I go uphill and downhill. On the downhill, there's no problem at all, but on the uphill, the extra few horses (from what I can figure) make up for the slope and I really don't need to slow down to keep cutting as usual.

As for the wheels spinning before the engine bogs, That's exactly right. Even with loaded tires, in sandy, loam the wheels just keep on spinning even if the forward progress slows down. I'm not really concerned with that, it's just something I've grown accustomed to and raise the bush hog a tad and get traction back and keep on mowing.....

I was also concerned on whether to get the 2400 or the 2800. For the extra $700, I decided to go for it, and I'm glad I did.

The one thing I do every time I am done using the tractor is let it idle for about 4 or 5 minutes. From my days of early Ford 7.3L turbo engines, the easiest way to "kill a turbo" is to shut it off when it's still "cherry red" hot. In fact, now Ford offers an option that allows you to leave the truck running and it will monitor the turbo temp and shut the truck off when it's cooled down. On Bransons, no such option, just let it idle while you store the tools, etc and you'll be fine. I'd think (might be wrong here but I don't think so) that if anything was going to happen to the turbo, it would be during the warranty, so take care of the tractor and don't worry about the turbo reliability, I think you'll find it's as reliable as any other comparable tractor. Best of luck with your decision. let us know what you decide to do.

 

[chewnins]

Well I bit the bullet and ordered a 2800h, should be delivered Thursday. Now just hoping for some decent weather.

 

[oldnslo]

Well I bit the bullet and ordered a 2800h, should be delivered Thursday. Now just hoping for some decent weather.

Good luck with your purchase. What attachments did you get with it?

I am still waiting for my local dealer to get one in stock for me to do a test drive on. Then comes the tough decision of are my reasons valid for considering a trade or is just a "want to" situation...

 

[chewnins]

Only got the brush hog right off the bat. All my neighbors have a pooled cache that we can all borrow from except mowers. In there are box blades, rakes, post hole diggers and an aerator. I will be watching for used single bottom plow, tiller or disc to do some gardening next year.

 

[JRTJH]

Only got the brush hog right off the bat. All my neighbors have a pooled cache that we can all borrow from except mowers. In there are box blades, rakes, post hole diggers and an aerator. I will be watching for used single bottom plow, tiller or disc to do some gardening next year.

One attachment you may want to consider is a quick hitch adapter. Harbor Freight has a cat 1 adapter for about $115. Less with the 20% coupon. I fought connecting attachments for the first couple of months, but when spring hit and I needed to start changing implements on a frequent basis, it just made sense. I shopped around, most were in the $200 -300 range and green was almost $500. Happened by HF and saw the one I bought on sale and couldn't refuse. Only problem is it didn't come with a top link adapter. Tractor supply has the adapter for $20 (but usually have to special order them) With the quick hitch, I can change implements in 4 or 4 minutes without getting off the tractor except to pin the top link. Before, it was a "cuss and fuss" kind of deal every time.

 

[incontrol6253]

I bought a 2800H the end of January. At that time, Branson had a "free FEL" with total cost out the door of $13250 with a 4 year warranty. That was with loaded tires and the BL00 Loader. They wouldn't even talk about exchanging the FEL for the 1200. Dealer said he wouldn't want to upset me with the price increase. He said that it simply wasn't worth it for what the BL00 is going for. I got it home, played with it a little, didn't have room in the pole barn at that time, so it sat under a tarp outside. I used the FEL to move some snow after a big storm. The tractor started on the first try and ran great. I have a KingKutter 4' brush hog, it turns it well and I've mowed some pretty big saplings without any problem. Implements I have are: 6' back blade, 4' box blade, 5' York rake, bucket forks and the brush hog. I recently passed the 50 hour mark, right now have 61 hours on it and did my own fluid changes at 50 hours. The purchase included filters for that oil change and a set of maintenance manuals for the tractor and the engine.

I've moved about 80 cu yards of sand from the road in front of our house, put down 100 cu yards of crushed limestone and that little tractor never missed a beat doing it. Like has been said, the BL00 loader is a beefy one and it'll lift the rear tires off the ground if you're not careful.

We've got about 10 acres of gently sloping wooded property that goes down to the lake. I'd looked at different brands, but for the money, I'm glad I chose Branson. It does what I need and I've still got less invested than the local JD or Kubota dealer wanted for a comparable tractor alone.

Ok, so are you still loving your Branson? Has it been enough tractor for you ten acres? Do you ever wish you had gotten a bigger tractor instead?

 

[incontrol6253]

I have tested all the other compact and sub compact tractors available with the exception of an ls.... Some but not all included several versions of each of the following ... Kioti, Kubota , John Deere, New Holland, Mahindra, Case, and Branson. I fell in love with the Branson 3520H. I don't really want to spend the money for any one of the 30+HP tractors though if say a Branson 2400h would do what I need. Can I get some opinions please. I will own 10 acres. The most I would use a box blade is 1 or 2 times a years on a driveway. About 8 acres consists of rolling hills of shin high thick grass. The only brush is less than an inch thick around some wood line that I would only need to clean up once and then keep maintained. Will the smaller tractor fit my needs? Even if I have to use a four foot rotary cutter going to 5 or 6 ft cutter wouldn't save that much time, although I would be cutting the rest every week or two. So thoughts?

 

[incontrol6253]

I would like to know also. I have tested all the other compact and sub compact tractors available with the exception of an ls.... Some but not all included several versions of each of the following ... Kioti, Kubota , John Deere, New Holland, Mahindra, Case, and Branson. I fell in love with the Branson 3520H. I don't really want to spend the money for any one of the 30+HP tractors though if say a Branson 2400h would do what I need. Can I get some opinions please. I will own 10 acres. The most I would use a box blade is 1 or 2 times a years on a driveway. About 8 acres consists of rolling hills of shin high thick grass. The only brush is less than an inch thick around some wood line that I would only need to clean up once and then keep maintained. Will the smaller tractor fit my needs? Even if I have to use a four foot rotary cutter going to 5 or 6 ft cutter wouldn't save that much time, although I would be cutting the rest every week or two. So thoughts?

 

[incontrol6253]

Let us know how you like it!

 

[incontrol6253]

How are you liking your Branson? Would it be enough tractor
for ten acres?

 

[JRTJH]

Ok, so are you still loving your Branson? Has it been enough tractor for you ten acres? Do you ever wish you had gotten a bigger tractor instead?

It looks like you've asked the same question about 5 times in the last 15 minutes, so I'd suppose you're "anxious to get an answer", so here's my take on the Branson 2800H after owning it almost 6 years.

The post you referenced, I made in June of 2012. That was 5 years ago. Since then I've graded about 300 miles of our road (it's about 1/2 mile long) so that means grading it about 600 times (weekly ??) I've kept the road plowed of snow during the winter, moved multiple tons of sand, gravel and dirt, rebuilt two berms in the back of our property, brush-hogged multiple times, bought two more implements, a 60" 3 point snow blower and a 12' 3 point boom. So far I've got about 300 hours on the tractor and the only maintenance problem I've had is a bad hydraulic filter (it blew the rubber gasket and deformed the seal) which was replaced by the dealer with no charge. I do all my own maintenance (oil, filter, hyd fluid changes) and have had only one breakdown problem that occurred two times. The hydraulic fluid cooler located in front of the radiator blew apart two times, both in sub zero weather and both times made the tractor inoperable (hydrostatic drive). Both times the dealer ordered a replacement hydraulic cooler at no charge and I went to a local hydraulic hose fabricator and paid to have a bypass hose made. When I blow a cooler, I can now remove the bad cooler, install the bypass hose and I'm back in business after topping off the hydraulic fluid level. To be honest, it's the way the aluminum finned cooler is constructed and trying to force thick, cold fluid through the small passages. Branson does have a "fix" and the dealer provided it to me, I installed the replacement cooler and I've had no problems winter or summer since. The new oil cooler is actually a 4' section of 3/8" copper tubing in an "S" pattern. I was concerned that it wouldn't provide enough cooling during the summer, but so far I've had no problems. Granted, I'm in northern Michigan and the temp seldom is over 80 F, but working the tractor "hard" I would have suspected some hot hydraulic fluid, but so far, no problems.

So, after 5 years and 300+ hours, I'm still satisfied with the tractor, the implements and the work that little 2800H can do. It's stingy on diesel, lifts and pulls within reason anything I throw at it and I've had no mechanical problems.

Now, would I like a bigger tractor? ****, any man who says "small is good enough" is lying LOL so yes, I'd love a bigger tractor. I think we all would. But, given that "bigger is better" syndrome we all have, honestly, I can do anything with this tractor that I've set out to do and have accomplished them all. I haven't "NEEDED" a bigger tractor, but would love to have one (if it didn't cost anything)....

The ONLY complaint I've got is that the rear axle spread is relatively narrow and the tractor is not as stable working on side sloping hills. I've never even come close to tipping or turning over, but I do think about it every time I'm in a situation where I get "sideways on a hillside".... I've thought about making a couple of wheel spacers and extending the tire/wheels out about 4" on each side, but so far, I've never got "so close I'm ready to change"..... So, enough said about wanting a wider wheelbase.

Other than that, I'm very satisfied with this little "2400 with a turbo" and if asked, "Would you buy it again?" The answer would be a resounding "Heck yes."...