What have you done to your Branson today?

Zork · Jul 1, 2024

Cougsfan said:
This weekend I fixed the AC on my 4720CH. The high-pressure hose out of the compressor was leaking because the hood was pushing down on it when closed and I didn't notice it until I tried my AC, it didn't work and I started checking things out. I could tell it was leaking there because of oil residue around the leak. I re-adjusted the hood latch to catch higher to keep it from contacting the AC line. That line leaked where the rubber hose crimps onto the aluminum tube. Being a tight wad I decided to try to fix the leak. I cleaned up the tube, applied some good ole JB weld the joint between the hose and aluminum tube. I then pulled a slight vacuum on the system to suck the JB weld into the leaky gap between the hose and tube, then let it set for a day. Last night I pulled it down to an absolute vacuum and let it set overnight. The vacuum held over night so I charged it up to day to 25 psi on the suction and 225 psi on the discharge. It only took half the freon as listed in the manual to get to the listed pressures (??) Seems to work just fine. 47 degree air out of the vents in the cab. Time will tell if the JB weld holds at the high pressures and temperatures. If not I will have to break down and see if Branson (TYM) has a hose for it.

It might be too late after the JB, but Amazon has some inexpensive die crimpers that might work

Slowpoke Slim · Jul 6, 2024

Took care of a small mowing job today. This was a site I first did 2 years ago, the one with the "ten foot tall weeds". They called me to come back this year, and also wanted me to schedule them to come twice a season starting next year and just put them on my permanent schedule. This year the weeds were only up to six feet in places, so not bad.

A few "before" pictures...

Did the trimming around the silo's and buildings first...

Only broke one shear pin, on this piece of concrete. You can see where it had been originally laying in the bottom center of this pic, and where it landed after being swatted by the mower blades...

Found another pallet in the weeds. That one used to be on the stack to the right, but "fell" (or was pushed) off. Bucket went right over it, but the mower found it. That was a bit noisy for a minute.

These weeds up ahead are hovering around the 6' height mark... (they were the ten footer's 2 years ago)

A couple of "after" pics...

Slowpoke Slim · Jul 6, 2024

That was a 5 acre site, and I burned just over 6 gallons of fuel cutting it. Everything was soggy-wet, which actually helped keep the chaff down to a minimum.

LouNY · Jul 8, 2024

Well just had to do a repeat of a "repair" from a couple of years ago, because I never did fix it better then stock.
Just spent the last two hours out in the sun working on the fuel tank vent lines on my Branson 8050,
damned mud dauber wasps. This happened once before couldn't figure out why the fuel gauge was reading low after just a couple of hours of working it. Then topped off with cans one day out in the field and it only took 4-5 gallons to be full then showed almost empty again that day. Got the cab floor out and started removing the fuel gauge sender and it was checking good put it back together and the same thing happened. Then pulled a vent line off the tank while trying to fill it and it filled fine. Damned mud daubers had plugged both vent lines. Found the same thing today it just went a lot faster as I was pretty such what happened.
I was going to fix it last time and didn't so today I ordered some new hose for the vents and a few disposable fuel filters. So I'll be replacing the vent lines and adding clear filters to keep the bee's out of the hose and be easier to fix next time.
Almost 90F and high humidity is not a good combination for this over weight old man.

Now to go out and do some back blade work on the driveway, it's getting in need.

Cougsfan · Jul 12, 2024

Zork said:
It might be too late after the JB, but Amazon has some inexpensive die crimpers that might work

I had thought of that, but the aluminum crimp section is partially worn away from it rubbing against the hood and I am not sure it will re-crimp.
Actually the JB weld seems to have worked. However, I am finding that on a 100 plus degree day, the AC just doesn't have enough oomph to keep the cab cool. The air coming out of the duct is 49 degrees but there just ain't enough air flow to keep up with the greenhouse effect from all the windows on the cab. It is blowing pretty hard too, but its just not enough.
Talking to my dealer, I found that they changed the AC systems considerably in 2018 (the year after my tractor was made). Mine doesn't have a dryer, so the freon capacity is only half what the 4720H manual says it should be for the later models with dryers. I am told the AC in the newer tractors is much more effective than mine.
Also, that hose out of the compressor has changed in design too. The new hose doesn't fit. It was probably changed because of how the old hose rubs against the hood.

LouNY · Jul 12, 2024

Cougsfan said:
I had thought of that, but the aluminum crimp section is partially worn away from it rubbing against the hood and I am not sure it will re-crimp.
Actually the JB weld seems to have worked. However, I am finding that on a 100 plus degree day, the AC just doesn't have enough oomph to keep the cab cool. The air coming out of the duct is 49 degrees but there just ain't enough air flow to keep up with the greenhouse effect from all the windows on the cab. It is blowing pretty hard too, but its just not enough.
Talking to my dealer, I found that they changed the AC systems considerably in 2018 (the year after my tractor was made). Mine doesn't have a dryer, so the freon capacity is only half what the 4720H manual says it should be for the later models with dryers. I am told the AC in the newer tractors is much more effective than mine.
Also, that hose out of the compressor has changed in design too. The new hose doesn't fit. It was probably changed because of how the old hose rubs against the hood.

Have you cleaned you cab air filters, when my starts having a hard time keeping up that has been the case some times.
Also the window tinting films seem to help considerably on some tractors.

Cougsfan · Jul 12, 2024

LouNY said:
Well just had to do a repeat of a "repair" from a couple of years ago, because I never did fix it better then stock.
Just spent the last two hours out in the sun working on the fuel tank vent lines on my Branson 8050,
damned mud dauber wasps. This happened once before couldn't figure out why the fuel gauge was reading low after just a couple of hours of working it. Then topped off with cans one day out in the field and it only took 4-5 gallons to be full then showed almost empty again that day. Got the cab floor out and started removing the fuel gauge sender and it was checking good put it back together and the same thing happened. Then pulled a vent line off the tank while trying to fill it and it filled fine. Damned mud daubers had plugged both vent lines. Found the same thing today it just went a lot faster as I was pretty such what happened.
I was going to fix it last time and didn't so today I ordered some new hose for the vents and a few disposable fuel filters. So I'll be replacing the vent lines and adding clear filters to keep the bee's out of the hose and be easier to fix next time.
Almost 90F and high humidity is not a good combination for this over weight old man.

Now to go out and do some back blade work on the driveway, it's getting in need.

Several years ago, I was having trouble with my fuel tank vents plugging. Someone on this forum suggested that I install inexpensive fuel line filters on the end of the vent lines to keep critters, dirt or whatever out. (Gee, I thought it was you, Lou). My tractor has separate fuel containment on each side of the driveline and without proper venting one side will run low while the other side stays full. Anyhow it worked and I haven't had any problems since I installed them.

Cougsfan · Jul 12, 2024

LouNY said:
Have you cleaned you cab air filters, when my starts having a hard time keeping up that has been the case some times.
Also the window tinting films seem to help considerably on some tractors.

Yes, I have cleaned the filters. Didn't seem to help much. Tinting the windows is a good idea. I will look into that.

ptsg · Jul 13, 2024

Today I started by moving (more like dragging) a big rock:

Then a smaller one:

Then the biggest one of the bunch. This tractor just pulls so hard. It's hard to see but it's slightly uphill, the tractor just pulled it very nicely, just a tiny bit of tire slippage.