Buying Advice 3520R Reliability/Problems

[DavesTractor]

Thank You ericm979!

I saw the guy on Youtube with the overheating. There is also a guy that says the engine blew with only 5 hours on it. In cases like that, are those just random outliers, due to user error, a mess up in the assembly process etc. or are these common problems. I have to suspect that they are not common issues. To your point about the hub seals, I think I have seen that mentioned several times. Also, it seems to me that I have seen clutch problems mentioned some with Branson tractors in general. Items like the clutch are what I am most worried about as that is a big ticket item...

Now to worry about parts coming out of South Korea during a war...

I see you list your tractor as a 3725H. I would really like to have the 25 series, but to much $$$ for me at the moment. Especially, considering I only have 5 acres to maintain.

Before the "i" models arrived in about 2006, Bransons used a dual stage clutch. It was a really nice smoothly engaging clutch, but if you slipped it much or rode around with your foot on the clutch and it over heated, it would fail. I'm guessing at dates, but even before the "i" series came out Branson changed the clutch to a button style clutch and changed the linkage to make them engage more suddenly, making it harder for the operator to slip the clutch. It was more of an engaged or not engaged feel. That slowed down the clutch issues greatly. Then when the "i" series came out, they switched to a single stage clutch since the PTO was no longer operated by the clutch, it had it's own electric over hydraulic engagement. Clutch issues at that point pretty much disappeared, except for abuse. Guys will go into a pile in high range, slip the clutch to push in, slip it to come back out and off they go. That sort of operator will wear a clutch out. Notice when you rent a tractor, it is almost always an HST. Renting clutch tractors is a sure fire way to keep your shop busy replacing clutches. So that is the history on Branson clutches. They were a problem for some novice operators early on, but for the last 12-13 years it is only the occasional clutch and it is always a guy that is not willing to change ranges when doing loader work or some similar issue.

As for engines going bad, we saw one at 8 hours once. I personally went out and winched it up to bring it to the shop. The guy was mowing tall super dry stuff in a field that hadn't been mowed in years. The radiator could not have been more plugged if you covered it with layers of wool blankets. You can overheat any tractor in an hour if you can't get air through the radiator. People ask, how often should I clean the radiator? It depends. If you are mowing 12" tall green grass in a moist environment, you might be able to go months between cleanings. If you are mowing in a tough environment like the aforementioned fella, you may need to clean the radiator every hour. I don't care if you are using the finest Grand L Kubota, the top of the line JD or even an awesome Cat backhoe, if the radiator can't move air and you ignore the heat gauge, you will toast the engine.

I think you will find the 3520R to be a fine tractor.

 

[scatterlandsfarms]

Before the "i" models arrived in about 2006, Bransons used a dual stage clutch. It was a really nice smoothly engaging clutch, but if you slipped it much or rode around with your foot on the clutch and it over heated, it would fail. I'm guessing at dates, but even before the "i" series came out Branson changed the clutch to a button style clutch and changed the linkage to make them engage more suddenly, making it harder for the operator to slip the clutch. It was more of an engaged or not engaged feel. That slowed down the clutch issues greatly. Then when the "i" series came out, they switched to a single stage clutch since the PTO was no longer operated by the clutch, it had it's own electric over hydraulic engagement. Clutch issues at that point pretty much disappeared, except for abuse. Guys will go into a pile in high range, slip the clutch to push in, slip it to come back out and off they go. That sort of operator will wear a clutch out. Notice when you rent a tractor, it is almost always an HST. Renting clutch tractors is a sure fire way to keep your shop busy replacing clutches. So that is the history on Branson clutches. They were a problem for some novice operators early on, but for the last 12-13 years it is only the occasional clutch and it is always a guy that is not willing to change ranges when doing loader work or some similar issue.

As for engines going bad, we saw one at 8 hours once. I personally went out and winched it up to bring it to the shop. The guy was mowing tall super dry stuff in a field that hadn't been mowed in years. The radiator could not have been more plugged if you covered it with layers of wool blankets. You can overheat any tractor in an hour if you can't get air through the radiator. People ask, how often should I clean the radiator? It depends. If you are mowing 12" tall green grass in a moist environment, you might be able to go months between cleanings. If you are mowing in a tough environment like the aforementioned fella, you may need to clean the radiator every hour. I don't care if you are using the finest Grand L Kubota, the top of the line JD or even an awesome Cat backhoe, if the radiator can't move air and you ignore the heat gauge, you will toast the engine.

I think you will find the 3520R to be a fine tractor.

Thanks for all your input on post like this ,, Sure wish you were in my area I would love to do business with you . keep up the good work thanks from Arkansas