Sad news, looks like I'm an orphan now

[Semi retired]

I stopped by my Branson dealer this week to ask him a question. When I pulled up, I noticed his front lot was bare... and his side yard was also bare... when I pulled up to the door, I noticed a note taped to the inside of the window. I originally thought he was either remodeling, or relocating... Nope. According to the note, he's out of business. He does give the location information of a "truck repair" shop 100 miles away that can do repair work. They are not a dealer though.

Now a flood of mixed emotions come over me all at once, surprise, shock, and worry.

First off, I really like this guy. He's the reason I bought this brand, nice guy, good customer service, just a guy you enjoy working with, goes the extra mile, etc. None of the other dealers in town would have cared if I dropped dead or not, let alone if I bought a tractor or not. They acted like they did me a favor by having the front door unlocked so I could walk in. But my Branson guy, is a younger guy (ok, younger than me), and I know he's still got some young kids at home, I've seen them in the dealership over school breaks. I actually hope he's ok, and that nothing has happened to him health wise or similar that forced this change on him. Hope his family is ok too. I've thought about calling him, I have his personal phone number (yes, he's that kind of guy), but I don't want to pester him or embarrass him. Just wondering if he's "ok". This closure affects real people and in a negative way, I'm sure, so it's not just about "poor me, and my tractor". Hope that makes sense here?

Now this does obviously leave me with the reality that there's not currently a Branson dealer in the state of ND. The closest one is Sioux Falls, SD, which is 300 miles away. I know I can order parts, filters, etc from other Branson dealers online (and I will have to do this at some point this summer, service is coming due), but I also admit that I enjoyed the "security blanket" of having my dealer in town in case something goes wrong, or (more likely) I do something dumb, and need a repair done (I'm still under warranty).

I also hesitated to post this at all, as there seems to be a "troll fest" that lingers about on TBN with folks eager to disdain the smaller brands whenever the chance comes up. Yes Branson has had problems historically with their dealer network, and dealership support. I think they hired a new corporate guy last year that was supposed to take this on. I do hope they shore up this side of their business strategy soon (not just for my sake, lol). But it seems a shame to have such a great product with such poor corporate network support.

My tractor didn't suddenly stop being a great tractor, and I plan on keeping it. It's done everything I've asked of it so far. Funny thing is, it looks like we're going to be moving soon to a 40 acre place, and I was toying with the idea of what my options were if I can't get one of my new neighbors to hay my 30 acres of pasture for me. One of the things I was going to pick my dealer's brain over when I stopped by. For some reason, the idea of a 2400H and 7845 combo was entering my head... Lol.

Anyway, I wasn't going to turn away from, or try to hide, the "bad" info here. We Branson owners need to stick together, and share information, both good and bad, when it surfaces. So, I'm passing this on, not to be negative, or to say "I'm MAD" (I'm not), but it's about free flow of information and news. And I think we should do our best to keep each other informed when we can.

I may call my old dealer sometime in the next few weeks, just to see if he's ok. He's on my mind. I hope he and his "guys" were able to transition easily into something else. I hate to see good folks out of work.

Peace.

 

[Semi retired]

I stopped by my Branson dealer this week to ask him a question. When I pulled up, I noticed his front lot was bare... and his side yard was also bare... when I pulled up to the door, I noticed a note taped to the inside of the window. I originally thought he was either remodeling, or relocating... Nope. According to the note, he's out of business. He does give the location information of a "truck repair" shop 100 miles away that can do repair work. They are not a dealer though.

Now a flood of mixed emotions come over me all at once, surprise, shock, and worry.

First off, I really like this guy. He's the reason I bought this brand, nice guy, good customer service, just a guy you enjoy working with, goes the extra mile, etc. None of the other dealers in town would have cared if I dropped dead or not, let alone if I bought a tractor or not. They acted like they did me a favor by having the front door unlocked so I could walk in. But my Branson guy, is a younger guy (ok, younger than me), and I know he's still got some young kids at home, I've seen them in the dealership over school breaks. I actually hope he's ok, and that nothing has happened to him health wise or similar that forced this change on him. Hope his family is ok too. I've thought about calling him, I have his personal phone number (yes, he's that kind of guy), but I don't want to pester him or embarrass him. Just wondering if he's "ok". This closure affects real people and in a negative way, I'm sure, so it's not just about "poor me, and my tractor". Hope that makes sense here?

Now this does obviously leave me with the reality that there's not currently a Branson dealer in the state of ND. The closest one is Sioux Falls, SD, which is 300 miles away. I know I can order parts, filters, etc from other Branson dealers online (and I will have to do this at some point this summer, service is coming due), but I also admit that I enjoyed the "security blanket" of having my dealer in town in case something goes wrong, or (more likely) I do something dumb, and need a repair done (I'm still under warranty).

I also hesitated to post this at all, as there seems to be a "troll fest" that lingers about on TBN with folks eager to disdain the smaller brands whenever the chance comes up. Yes Branson has had problems historically with their dealer network, and dealership support. I think they hired a new corporate guy last year that was supposed to take this on. I do hope they shore up this side of their business strategy soon (not just for my sake, lol). But it seems a shame to have such a great product with such poor corporate network support.

My tractor didn't suddenly stop being a great tractor, and I plan on keeping it. It's done everything I've asked of it so far. Funny thing is, it looks like we're going to be moving soon to a 40 acre place, and I was toying with the idea of what my options were if I can't get one of my new neighbors to hay my 30 acres of pasture for me. One of the things I was going to pick my dealer's brain over when I stopped by. For some reason, the idea of a 2400H and 7845 combo was entering my head... Lol.

Anyway, I wasn't going to turn away from, or try to hide, the "bad" info here. We Branson owners need to stick together, and share information, both good and bad, when it surfaces. So, I'm passing this on, not to be negative, or to say "I'm MAD" (I'm not), but it's about free flow of information and news. And I think we should do our best to keep each other informed when we can.

I may call my old dealer sometime in the next few weeks, just to see if he's ok. He's on my mind. I hope he and his "guys" were able to transition easily into something else. I hate to see good folks out of work.

Peace.

 

[ljjhouser]

Sorry to hear the dealer closed. I think I would give him a call to see is he is doing ok and wish him well. Also, he might also know if the mechanic is working locally at another shop. Best Wishes.

 

[K5lwq]

Hello Slim, just joined, I think, this site. Not sure if you’ll get this but going to try. I too was saddened to see Mr. Bitz close his doors. Really liked him as a dealer and a person. Was honest as the day is long. Anyway I’d like to know what your doing to replace his business to get parts or service. Just had an issue with my tractors hydraulics and think I know what the problem is but no idea where to try and get parts. I’m in Bismarck also. If you do get this my number is 701-301-7569 if you get this and would care to compare notes

Welcome to TBN! I am sure Slim will respond soon but there is some great Branson dealers out there that will ship parts to you if you need them.

This is a really good site for resources and help with diagnostics. Hopefully you will stick around and hang out with us some. Good luck with your repair.

 

[ljjhouser]

Yes Welcome to TBN.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Hello Slim, just joined, I think, this site. Not sure if you’ll get this but going to try. I too was saddened to see Mr. Bitz close his doors. Really liked him as a dealer and a person. Was honest as the day is long. Anyway I’d like to know what your doing to replace his business to get parts or service. Just had an issue with my tractors hydraulics and think I know what the problem is but no idea where to try and get parts. I’m in Bismarck also. If you do get this my number is 701-301-7569 if you get this and would care to compare notes

Well hello Semi, welcome to TBN.

So far I have been fortunate enough not to need anything for my tractor. I am up on my 300 hour service however, and will be needing to get some filters for that. I haven't made contact with Mr. Bitz yet, but I think I will try to get filters from him this spring. There is a guy that lives one road over from me that also has a Branson tractor and he was talking to my other neighbor about it, saying that when Mr. Bitz closed down his shop, he had quite a bit of parts inventory that he brought home. So filters and such I think he can cover. I'm not sure if he'd have any other parts on hand for your hydraulic issue.

There are a few dealers on TBN that are always very helpful with questions and Asteral has kindly put up all of the shop manuals that he has access to for us to use.

About the only concern I have is matching an equivalent hydro fluid to my tractor when I change it out. Not sure if you've had any issues with yours, but when they did the 50 hour on mine and changed it, the first fluid they put in kept blowing the hydro filters off of my tractor. Now this was in the dead of winter (-40F to those of you not in ND) and we were pretty certain that the initial fluid was too "thick" at that temp. It did it 2 times in a row, and Mr. Bitz changed to another fluid that eliminated the issue entirely. So 250 hours later I'm needing to replace it again, and not sure what fluid to go with. I'm certainly not changing fluids for time of year, so I need a fluid that will work from -40F to +95F.

What fluid are you using in your 4520 Semi? How many hours?

 

[jyoutz]

Stories similar to yours are far too common and are the reason I won't even consider buying a new tractor. Thank you for putting it up.

What’s the difference buying new or used? Both need service parts.

 

[RoyJackson]

I agree with this.
I bought a Kubota tractor from the local dealer and about a month later he was out of business and doors closed. Next closest dealer was about 100 miles away, but not a reliable or honest dealer, only dealt with them once. Mail order parts works very well. Messicks which is further away ended up with a lot of my business.

Messick's is a great bunch of guys!

Losing a dealer is a real bummer, but that's a risk when buying from a newer brand...in any industry

 

[jyoutz]

A lot of people end up are deathly afraid of buying a "smaller" brand tractor because of dealer concerns. That insecurity causes them to only consider "big" brand tractor dealers, sometimes only to find they got ripped off and/or they might have a totally incompetent dealer service department by the "big" name dealer. I would argue that there are both competent and incompetent dealers representing virtually all brands. "Big" name brands aren't a guarantee of a competent dealership in the least. In fact I tend to trust a "big" name dealer less than a small dealer I can get to know on a first name, personal basis.

It is true that you can receive poor service from any brand dealer. But it’s also true that there is likely multiple service choices for major brands within 100 miles.

 

[Cougsfan]

It is also true you can often find competent independent shops that will work on any brand of tractor, often with a lower shop rate than a brand dealer, just like you can for an automobile. I have had better luck over the years with independent shops over brand shops. I would take my tractor or car to a brand shop is for warranty or recall work (free), but for other things I know of an independent repair guy who is seemingly a magician.