I'll be honest, I'd never heard of Branson before I bought mine. I bought my dealer.
I went to each brand's local dealer in the town I live in (Bismarck, ND). All the major brands are represented here in town with respective dealers. New Holland, John Deere, Kubota, Case/MF, Bobcat-Kioti (same dealer), and Branson (no Mahindra btw). All but 2 dealers completely ignored me when I was on their property. I mean literally, completely. ignored me. I went to some of these dealers multiple times over a week. Same treatment. Literally wouldn't even say "Hello", or make eye contact, when I was standing in their showroom. Well, on one visit, the New Holland salesman did say he'd call me back. Never did.
The John Deere dealer actually had someone who spoke to me (I was shocked), but they didn't have any models on hand that were even remotely close to what I was looking for. Their only solution was to tell me there was a tractor down at Aberdeen, SD (200 miles away), that was pretty close to what I wanted, and I could drive down there and look at it if I wanted to. Or, I could just buy one, sight unseen, from looking at the glossy brochure (for $55K), and hope for the best.
I needed a tractor. I needed it that weekend. I was ready to sign that day. None of them cared.
I then found the local Branson dealer, (and he's kinda small compared to size of the others in town), and went to look at his tractors. Not only did he have the sizes I was looking for in stock, he actually waited on me, and treated me like a customer. Came out to his row of tractors with a fist full of keys, and let me climb over/in any tractor I wanted. I narrowed it down to the one I thought would work best, and he tossed me the keys and said "Go play", pointing to the open field next door. Said to come in when I was done and he'd answer any questions I had.
The stats he listed (FEL capacity, 3 pt lift capacity, tractor weight, 4 cyl Cummins all-iron casting engine) for the 25 series were better in every way than the other brands in the same size/hp range, and the 25 series came with all the "extras" as standard. Cab mounted work lights, A/C as well as heat in cab, cruise control, linked hydro pedal, independent pto, 2 rear remotes, both lower link arms were adjustable (and true link arms, not turn buckles), both 540 and 540E pto settings, rear diff lock, and a true "standard" SSQA FEL.
A whole lot of features that you either had to buy extra, or go up to a higher level unit to get with some of the competition's models. Plus, it came in $20K cheaper than the one the JD salesman (the only one who spoke to me) was trying to get me to buy sight unseen. It comes with a great warranty, that so far I've not needed. And it's done everything I've asked it to (so far), including picking up, moving and feeding large round bales for my neighbor. I mostly use mine for mowing with a 3pt brush hog (6'), and clearing snow in winter (FEL/bucket so far, but 7' blower hopefully this winter). Also some basic yard cleanup, tree clearing, etc as needed.
The biggest features to me (on the 25 series) are:
Tractor weight. One of the most ignored, and probably most important stats, is how much the tractor weighs. Almost always, more weight is better. The cabbed 25 series lists 4200 lbs for a bare tractor, that's no FEL, and no attachments. I had my dealer fill my rear tires with Rimguard (can't recommend enough), and with my FEL & bucket, and 6' box blade on rear, my tractor weighs 7100 lbs. That's actual weight, as weighed by me, on a certified CAT scale.
FEL lift capacity. Have to be careful here, as some manufacturers get "tricky" on how they rate this. Branson rates theirs to 2100 lbs to FULL HEIGHT, but they don't say if it's "at the pins", or distance from pins. I'm assuming it's "at the pins". Other brands list it as only "X" distance off ground.
FEL lift height. Branson lists max height as 103", and 97" with "attachment level", which I assume means with bucket sitting level, but raised to max height.
3 pt hitch lift. 3637 lbs of lift at the link arms.
Hydraulics. 11.1 gallon per minute pump. Also has separate power steering pump for steering the tractor, so you're not running out of steering if you've got your hydraulics maxed out lifting something big and trying to move it.
Comes with big features, it's well built, and comes with a small (comparatively) price tag.
What's not to love?
