Oil & Fuel 2015 Branson 3520h DPF Issue

Kentuckyfarmer · Jun 23, 2017

Mr Bitz said:
Agreed Kentucky farmer.

Thank you sir!!! Its something else farming today. Watch some YouTube videos of farmers today and the skills of farming are a thing of the past. Computers, gps, auto steer you could put a broom stick in the seat and stay in the house and watch your favorite episode of honey bobo. All you have to be able to do is set up the computers to control everything from guidance to what ever you have behind the the tractor and the rest is done. It would probably text you to let you know there is a problem or its ready for its next task. We cut, raked, baled hay, planted, drilled, plowed, disk and spread manure with out computers. At one time we use an planter that you used wires to control the planting and had to move the wire after each pass was done. With that you could cultivate in any direction and as you went around the fields the corn rows lined up left to right, top to bottom and corner to corner. Better weed control. Now it's no till and sprayed and everything from planting to spraying is controlled by 0's and 1's. What ever happened when farmers had manure in their clothes,beat up knuckles, grease under their finger nails and a grip that could choke a full grown bull. I'm an old farmer with beat up hands, crap on my clothes, and a tractor that smells like it burns diesel. Got about everything in the tool box to fix what goes wrong with it too.

DavesTractor · Jun 23, 2017

Kentuckyfarmer said:
...... Now it's no till and sprayed and everything from planting to spraying is controlled by 0's and 1's.

They say there are 10 kinds of people that understand binary, those that do and those that don't. Always thought that was funny....

Btown · Jun 24, 2017

DavesTractor said:
Seems that every system has it's strong and weak points. I think as time goes on, systems will get better and better from all brands. For those of us old enough to have gone through the carburetor to fuel injection stages with cars, we can remember plenty of issues as they went from mechanical carbs to vacuum and electronic assisted carbs to early throttle body FI, etc. But eventually we are left with high performance and low emissions and better mileage. Albeit at a much higher cost and much more complexity.

Branson's system is probably the most simple. It is either good to go, or it is clogged from not getting it hot enough. And it doesn't take even a trained mechanic to figure it out. However for folks that run these gently, I'd favor a button that could induce a DPF clean if needed. When you test a Branson long term on a dyno for thousands of hours, the DPF keeps itself nice and clean without any need for a burn off cycle, however it is under a load and up to temp.

I do like the simplicity of the mechanical engine with a fancy muffler/exhaust better than a computerized engine with a fancy exhaust. Mahindra has a different spin, a complex engine management system and CRD, but not DPF. That is clever as well. But you do have computer controls.

I agree on a regen/light button for Branson. Mahindra uses a DOC which also needs to be warmed up good to work properly. They are having issues with theirs too.

LincTex · Jun 27, 2017

Kentuckyfarmer said:
At one time we used a planter that you used wires to control the planting and had to move the wire after each pass was done. With that you could cultivate in any direction and as you went around the fields the corn rows lined up left to right, top to bottom and corner to corner. Better weed control..

Those old set-ups are very, VERY rare now. Once in a while I'll see pieces come up on ebay.

Organic farmers that rely on cultivation (no chemicals) are constantly looking for this old equipment that makes cultivation more efficient.

Kentuckyfarmer · Jul 3, 2017

LincTex said:
Those old set-ups are very, VERY rare now. Once in a while I'll see pieces come up on ebay.

Organic farmers that rely on cultivation (no chemicals) are constantly looking for this old equipment that makes cultivation more efficient.

I would enjoy see it done again. Laste time I seen it was back in the early 60's. The only thing that was sprayed on our farm was pea's and sweet corn that was contracted to grow for Birdseye. We grew 20 acres or each and Birdseye contracted a company that had a plane that flew over the fields and sprayed them. I think it was mostly for bugs. It was a bright yellow older style plane that was loud as he!! Made my uncle mad as can be and we always had to chase the cows because they would go thru the fence and scatter all over the country. I think the guy in the plane knew he was causing it too.

Aaron L · Jul 6, 2017

Biplane? Most likely a Stearman. Excellent aircraft.

Boeing-Stearman Model 75 - Wikipedia

Kentuckyfarmer · Jul 6, 2017

Aaron L said:
Biplane? Most likely a Stearman. Excellent aircraft.

Boeing-Stearman Model 75 - Wikipedia

Yep that's it. I live not more than a mile from a little country airport now and everything under the sun flies in and out of there. Nothing big just small stuff and even some military helo's that are sometimes noisy but all the livestock is use to it and doesn't bother them. But up in Minnesota way out in the country and all of a sudden this loud plane would appear over the hill right over the pasture where the cows were the tails would go straight up and the utters were flopping and they were gone. No worning from anyone. It would have been nice so we could have put the cows up and anything else so we weren't chasing them half the night. In those days it was done on foot. No such thing as 4wheelers. Just had a old 51 Chevy to follow who ever was guiding them home from behind.

cottwood · Apr 30, 2018

pblanton said:
I left it like it was. The new muffler is a bolt in replacement for the DPF. I haven't taken off the sensors and data logger yet, so the DPF light is still flashing like mad. I just needed to get the tractor off of the road where it stranded itself a month ago. I'll pull it into the shop this weekend and clean it up. I need to remove the sensors and data logger, and weld up a bracket for the muffler.

With the muffler on in place of the DPF, it feels like it's been uncorked. It feels much more responsive and more powerful. If you had me drive one with a DPF and one without and told me the one without was turbocharged, I'd believe you. This little three cylinder engine is actually pretty hairy chested.

When I first started the tractor after installing the new muffler, it smoked like a gateway to he11. I ran the RPM up a bit and once it burned off the soot that had lined the exhaust manifold, it cleaned up a lot. The only real difference now is it is a little louder, and belches a bit of smoke when you first start it. When you accelerate it also puffs a little smoke, but once it reaches operating RPM, the visible smoke stops. Just like the diesel tractors I grew up on.

Pictures follow...

View attachment 494458

View attachment 494459

View attachment 494460

And for a video that shows me starting it and the way it sounds now...

YouTube

Hi Dplanton,
I am taking my 3520 to have a muffler installed tomorrow. 69 hrs and misses at startup because of the dpf. My question for you is does the data logger have to be removed to stop the dpf light from flashing? I have disconnected both sensors. Or will it stop once the muffler is installed? I currently have 3 holes in the dpf from uninstalling the dpf sensors. If you take off the data logger will the rest of the dash lights continue to work?
Thanks! Robin

cottwood · Apr 30, 2018

Figured it out. Just unplugged data recorder and taped up the ends. No more dpf light! Runs better just with the extra holes from the sensors being out. Smokes a lot. Can’t wait to get the regular muffler on tomorrow and have it run how a diesel tractor should run! Run any rpm and not worry about it. I love this tractor and will love it more with no for emissions issues. It is a little workhorse!