Kioti vs Branson - New purchase 35hp range

sikmusicfreak8 · May 1, 2018

Branson does outweigh others, lift more than others, and has a great engine. But, as others have mentioned, having good dealers and information is worth its weight in gold. I bought a used tractor, and I do all my own work, so I did not need a dealer. Tractor has been great. Kiotis do look nice. The new YT3 Yanmars look REALLY nice. Kubotas lifting capabilities and light weight don't sit well with me, same as the Deere, and they command a premium, but they have amazing dealer support. So, 6 one way, half a dozen the other. Depends on what you value more.

Omega Woods · May 1, 2018

Teachu2 said:
Kioti appears to be here to stay. I believe Branson was purchased by TYM in 2016. 'Nuff said?

They were purchased for the engine plant so that they can put Cummins designed engines in their tractor, so yes, that says all I need to know.

ericm979 · May 1, 2018

I got my 3725 from Dave's too. Eugene is about 100 miles farther away than I am. Dave's has been fine with shipping me stuff (not that I've needed much, just filters).

Omega Woods · May 1, 2018

My advice would be to drive both and talk to both dealers. Whichever dealer you are most comfortable with, buy that one. I just bought a Kubota subcompact because I don't feel comfortable with the local Branson dealers.

airbiscuit · May 1, 2018

Teachu2 said:
Kioti appears to be here to stay. I believe Branson was purchased by TYM in 2016. 'Nuff said?

We had a local dealer that sold Farmtrac. When they dissolved (and became an orphan tractor), he was looking for a different brand to carry. He originally looked into TYM because he thought the tractors were good, but passed because he said their parts availability was bad. He ended up carrying Mahindra and seems happy with that decision. TYM recently bought out Branson (who bailed on Century and Montana [who bailed on Farmtrac] tractor brands). Soooo, will there still be both TYM and Branson tractors in 5-10 years?

DK35vince · May 1, 2018

Aquamoose said:
I bought my 3520h Branson from Daveç—´ tractor in Redding Ca (delivered to Spokane, WA). The selling point was the engine, lifting capacity (out lifts others) and the weight (quite important to have as much weight to keep the tires planted on terra firma!) for the 35hp range.

A friend has a Kioti that I borrowed a few times before my Branson and it felt underpowered.

My DK 35 according to my service manual is 33.5 HP, and 28.3 PTO HP.
I run a 6' tiller, 6' brush mower, 84" rear finish mower, 9' FEL mounted snow plow with it fine.
Doubt others in the same HP range do better.

jeff9366 · May 2, 2018

Aquamoose said:
A friend has a Kioti that I borrowed a few times before my Branson and it felt underpowered.

I think this comment, with no stipulation of Kioti model, a cheap, cheap shot at Kioti.

Aquamoose · May 2, 2018

jeff9366 said:
I think this comment, with no stipulation of Kioti model, a cheap, cheap shot at Kioti.

Scuzi... it was a CK-35. I thought it was the norm with regards to operating it & moving dirt. When I tried out the Branson, I was surprised at the difference and thought my friend had a lesser horse powered model so I asked him. Nope, it’s the same. 35 hp. I believe it’s the weight of the tractor and the lifting capacity that made the difference.

Cheap shot? Just sharing my opinion with the OP at his request. How else should I word it?

ptsg · May 2, 2018

I have a Branson F36Rn, the same as the 3515R over there in the US but without all the DPF shenanigans, however I have been really really happy with it so far. 60 Hours on the clock and it just runs awesome, the weight is just spot on. I've mowed really heavy brush on a steep hill and it was really stable.

Over here we use chains instead of blades on brush mowers which requires more HP. I have a 4 ft mower and a 5 ft rototiller, I've never had any lack of power issues. Anyway, and just for comparison purpose only, I've seen several reports of similar 35 HP Kioti's that couldn't run a 4 ft rototiller due to lack of power and to be honest, before I bought the Branson, I've looked at Kioti and it didn't seem to have the HP that they state for, also the constrution doesn't feel robust like Branson does. The castings on the Branson are massive for a 35 HP tractor.

This is not to create more discussions or disagreements. It is just my personal experience and opinion.

Here a video of my F36 mowing. This was my first time using it, so I was going really easy with it. I've since mowed a lot heavier stuff with no problems at all. Keep in mind we use big chains instead of blades on our brush mowers.