Branson Front Wheel Axle Failures

[CADplans]

I was "testing" my front axle yesterday,,,
This thread made me be a little more careful!! :thumbsup:

 

[PapeCAT]

It is a steering axle,, just like a 2WD.

Might have misunderstood my question. Clearly it is a steering axle, those knuckles look beefy! I was asking if it articulated up and down to assist in keeping all four wheels on the ground in uneven terrain, in the pics it looks like the axle housing might be fastened directly to the frame on both sides rather than with a pivot of sorts in the middle.

 

[CADplans]

Might have misunderstood my question. Clearly it is a steering axle, those knuckles look beefy! I was asking if it articulated up and down to assist in keeping all four wheels on the ground in uneven terrain, in the pics it looks like it might be fastened directly to the frame?

There is a pivot on the 4WD axle,,, just like a 2WD has,,
it does a pretty good job of keeping all 4 tires on the ground.

Actually, that axle pivots more than many 2WD tractors I have driven,,,

 

[LincTex]

With Industrial Toys comment and others like it in this thread, it seems to me that there is a second unaddressed safety issue. That is the reselling of used tractors that may have already experienced fatigue cracks or stress risors such that the health of a front axle spindle is compromised but not evident to the eye. I see no published instructions from Kukje/Branson informing the dealer or the purchaser of used tractors concerning how to ensure that unhealthy axles are not unwittingly being passed on to unsuspecting customers. I would appreciate opinions on this, ....

Opinions?

OK, here's mine - build a bridge and "get over it".

Tractors get abused. It happens. I've done some pretty bad stuff over the years that SHOULD HAVE broken more parts ands pieces than I have.

I have seen a LOT of broken tractor spindles in my life (and rear combine spindles, too).

I don't think ANY tractors should really have a FEL, but they are just so darn handy!

Nobody is perfect, no machine is perfect, and you're starting to sound a lot like a damnn tort lawyer already.

 

[Branson Bob]

Opinions?

OK, here's mine - build a bridge and "get over it".

Tractors get abused. It happens. I've done some pretty bad stuff over the years that SHOULD HAVE broken more parts ands pieces than I have.

I have seen a LOT of broken tractor spindles in my life (and rear combine spindles, too).

I don't think ANY tractors should really have a FEL, but they are just so darn handy!

Nobody is perfect, no machine is perfect, and you're starting to sound a lot like a damnn tort lawyer already.

Agreed.

We live in an imperfect world in which we're constantly confronted with risk/reward, cost/benefit, etc.

One part of being a competent person is understanding calculated risks and making decisions... even if the decision is to have fun and beat on a machine purchased with his/her own money.

A competent person is also a person with the cajones to understand that timidity gets you nowhere in life and that while some occasions call for finesse, others call for force.

 

[Cougsfan]

I think we should solve this issue with lawyers! A good lawyer can solve any issue by lawsuit. If an engineer uses a safety factor of 8 in designing an axle, he should be sued for not using a safety factor of 16. This, also will result in a 800 page owner's manual telling you what not to do because you might create an unsafe condition. It will also lead to tractors that are too expensive to buy because of the resultant lawsuits. This in turn results in none of us owning any tractors which, of course, the ultimate and perfect solution to this safety issue.

By the way, I had an front wheel come off my 1 ton truck once while driving along at 60 mph carrying a full, load of hay. The kid working at the tire shop forgot to tighten the lugs. I forgot to sue them. Fortunately nothing particularly bad happened. (You wouldn't believe how far an unattached wheel turning at 60 mph can roll! It took us hours to find it) It makes me wonder how many tractors have actually rolled over from an axle breaking.

Sorry Cliff, I don't really mean to pick on you, but I suggest you just get over it for your own well being.

 

[dancath]

Very good info. Dave I've learned a lot. Good to know my Branson is no worse than others like a lot of readers would imply without reading your post.I'll be loading my rears with more in the future.

Thanks again

Dan

 

[DavesTractor]

I think most of us are on the same page. Tractors, cars, trucks...all have some risks of failure and most failures can be safety issues. A person that cannot accept some risks ought to just hire his work done.

I suppose we can look at airplanes if we want to really "up" the safety factor. Annuals - or once every 100 hours whichever comes first, we can tear the tractor down and check everything. At certain hours items would be replaced even if they looked fine. At certain age, other items would be replaced, even if the tractor sat in a shed and was not used. All work done by certified tractor mechanics. Yearly the tractor operator would need a medical. He would need to keep a log. And before he ever had a solo operation session, he would need at least 10 hours classroom and 10 hours with a co-pilot. Then at 40-80 hours, depending on how sharp the guy is, he could get take a test and see if he could get his license.

Honestly, super well trained operators and super well maintained tractors would be safer, but aviation level standards would put tractoring out of reach of the common man. And who wants more regulation? And tractors don't fall out of the sky.

I bet some of you pilots could write what I did above in a much better fashion. But anyway you look at it, tractoring would go from a pretty cheap and fun hobby to a $20k/year (or more) nightmare.

 

[LincTex]

I bet some of you pilots could write what I did above in a much better fashion. But anyway you look at it, tractoring would go from a pretty cheap and fun hobby to a $20k/year (or more) nightmare.

As a 27 year FAA-licensed Airframe & Powerplant mechanic, and 17 year commercial pilot - I'd say you pretty much nailed it square on the head.

 

[CliffNeudorf]

Here is mine from the spring

I was moving dirt . Drove into pile and continued to drive to get more dirt Rear tires spun some and heard a click no movement. Thought it came out of gear lifted bucket tried to reverse. Rear tires spun front didn't.
Dumped load and tried reverse . started to move and tire fell off.
$500 laterView attachment 499290View attachment 499291

Hi rasorbackq, thank you for responding to this thread. Collectively, we all need to be fully transparent about these issues and to be able to talk openly about them in this forum if we hop to achieve positive conclusions to the questions raised.

The failure you have experienced seems to have been benign although costly. If you don't mind sharing I would be interested to know if any representative from Kukje or Branson reviewed and examined the broken bits and was there a cause of failure determination made by them? In particular was there a determination that the failure was due to overload experienced during this particular operation or was it an accumulated series of events that led to the final separation of the axle? To my knowledge this is now the 5th Branson axle failure that has been reported on TBN with a further 2 for other manufacturers. It would be interesting to know what hours your axle failed at. It is my understanding that of the previous 4, three axles failed near the same time and the 4th was relatively new 2-3 hundred hours old.

In this thread different contributors have identified what would amount to three generalized source that could contribute to these failures. One of the conditions addressed the use of additional weight aft of the rear wheels to counter balance FEL induced loads that would lead to overload of the front wheel axle. Those comments seem quite sensible to me but Kukje/ Branson do not seem to have taken to heart or felt the need to publish such guidance concerning the use of counterweights to protect the health of their axles. Have they said anything to you concerning the need for such weights? I take it you were not within the warranty period.

For everybody's general info on this subject I have attached two YouTube urls published by the Branson Forum in Germany which demonstrate the use of the FEL with and without weights. I attach these URLs because Bransom Forum DE seem to be ambivalent or unaware of the use of weights to protect the health of the front axle. If there was an issue, one would think that they would be using the weights in both of these videos. Comments would be appreciated.

Branson Tractor 525R | Front loader test - YouTube - Branson Forum demonstration - FEL moving heavy tree trunk sections, no aft weights

Branson Tractor F47Rn - YouTube - FEL front forks with aft weights