2017 Branson 2400h or 3513h?

[seto]

Hello everyone. Like many others, I've found myself in the position of needing a tractor. I have turned to this forum and found a ton of useful info; however, I do still have a question. Before I get to that, let me give you a little information about my situation.

My wife and I recently purchased a home on 36 acres. About 30 acres is cleared, flat pasture land with the one-off tree here and there and the other 6 acres is heavily wooded. Maybe one day we will have a few head of cattle, a couple of hogs and chickens, but I don't see anything more than that.

We knew going in we would need a tractor so I began doing research and thoroughly confused myself. After hours of research, I have come to 2 conclusions. I will buy a Branson and it will be either a 2400h or a 3515h. A dealer close to me has a package deal on both and the dealer has a stellar reputation.

The 2400 package comes with a trailer, a 4' brush hog and 4' box blade. The 3515 package comes with a trailer, a 5' brush hog, a 5' box blade and a $7000 price difference.

My main use for the tractor will be brush hogging. The property is set up in 3 plots of approximately 10 acres each that will need it. My driveway is about 660 feet and in relatively good condition, but there are some spots that will need attention. My plan is to bring in some gravel and use the FEL and box blade to spread it out. I do plan on purchasing an auger/post hole digger implement for fence posts.

If we do decide on cattle, I will most likely need to move round hay bales during the winter. Luckily, it doesn't snow much here, so I don't have to worry about that.

This brings me to my questions, and it is mainly directed at the 2400 owners. Do you think the 2400 will be able to handle what I need it for? Has there ever been a time when you wished you had more horsepower?

I'm leaning toward the 2400, but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by not having enough horsepower and I don't want to spend the extra money for horsepower I don't need and will not use.

I put in all the information I could think of, but if I left anything out, I'll be glad to provide it.

Thanks for our help.

 

[Texasmark]

One tractor family? Get the larger one. Better amenities and can do more things. Only reason I bought the 2400 series was that I wanted a small chore tractor to do little jobs around the place. I have a larger tractor to do the serious jobs, actually 4 now and had as many as 7 when I was leasing farm land. The 2400 is too small to do much else.

Something to think about: As time passes, 36 acres can accommodate lots of things. Tractors last 10's and 10's of years. The money you spend for it today will be gone in a heartbeat. What you bought with it will be with you for................ Do you want to "gee I wish we would have gotten one a little bigger" now that we want animals and do our own haying and this and that.

I'd seriously move on up to the 50 hp range. They are big enough to do some serious work yet small enough to not be intimidating. Think about it. If you decide to trade up later, just remember the new car saying.....once the tire hits the street "it's used" and brings the used trade in price back at the dealer!

 

[Cougsfan]

I would agree that you should buy as many horsepower you can possibly afford. It is amazing how much more work a 35 hp can do over a 25 hp and then again, what a 50 Hp can do as opposed to a 35 HP. The FEL buckets grow with the hp and can carry so much more. The larger attachments are the same in those regards. A 50 hp will handle 6 foot box blades and mowers. That makes the work go a lot quicker. I was just talking today to the guy I sold my 25 hp Yanmar to. He loves the tractor, but his only regret was that it only has 25 HP. He has about 15 acres and is still wishing for more hp.

 

[ericm979]

Weight and size are even more important than HP as they affect everything, not just PTO implements. The 15 weighs almost twice what the 00 weighs. That gives the 15 more traction and the ability to handle larger implements and more weight in the loader. It's also significantly wider, making it more stable. That's good for slopes, uneven ground and stability when there's a load in the bucket. You mention round bales- the 15 loader has a 1800 lb capacity, the 00 only 1000 lbs. Something bulky like a round bale has a CG that's a ways out from the loader pins where the loader is rated, reducing effective capacity. A 1000 lb capacity loader won't handle a 1000lb round bale.

I had a Kubota B7100 with 42" implements for my steep 20 acres and recently got a 3725. The larger tractor is so much more capable and gets things done faster. You have more land than I and longer runs to mow, blade etc so the advantage of the larger tractor will be that much greater. If you can step up to a 20 series with 5.5 or 6' implements it'll go even faster. I put a 5' rotary cutter on my 3725 for manuverability and a 5.5' box blade. If I had flatter more open terrain that's typical with posters here I'd have 6' implements.

For a 5' cutter and box blade 25hp is probably enough. The rule of thumb is 5hp per foot.

BTW for box blades, weight matters. The tractor doesn't push the blade down, only the blade's weight does. Some of the cheap box blades are pretty light. It might make sense to spend a little more and get a sturdier heavier blade. Same with the cutter- if it's mostly grass or small brush the light duty cutter works fine. If you're using it on brush a heavier duty one would be good. I got a "light duty" cutter but it's well built and I chainsaw and chip any brush over 1.5-2".

A lot of the midwest dealers have packages that include trailers. But unless you're regularly trailering the tractor to sites to do work it's cheaper to rent a trailer for the infrequent trips to the dealer. Even here in California where everything is expensive a weeks' trailer rental is $150. And then it's one less thing to store and maintain.

 

[seto]

thanks for the replies. You've given me more to think about.

 

[Mr Bitz]

I want to clear some things up here pertaining to Branson tractors vs other brand sizes. Ok. So the Branson 2400 is a compact tractor not a (sub) compact, it has more lift capacity than a sub compact by far, it's heavier and will out pull and out perform heavier work loads than the subs.
The 15 series Branson tractors are built on the same frame, tires, capacities, other than horsepower they are the same tractors spec wise.
20 series Branson tractors from 31hp-55hp have all the exact lift capacities and spec out exactly the same other than HP and on the 20 series there is a different size in tires as HP goes up tire size goes up. So with Branson lift specs do not go up with hp they are the same whether you have a 31hp or 55hp. With that being said if you need the hp to the pto or to the ground by all means get the higher hp tractor. But if it's lift capacity your needing save some money and go with a smaller hp tractor. Hope this helps.