Branson DPF Emissions Contols

[Thunder chicken]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but it was just the info I was looking for. My father has a 3725c, and babies it around. 100 hours later, the dpf light was on steady and has been for a while. Our local dealer said to give it an Italian tune up. Which I did. But was questioning and wondering how to force a regen thinking a computer was involved. Now the light is out. And now learning the chisel trick is possible with this unit, that’ll be even easier than building a pipe and a computer flash as we had to do in our VW car.

 

[ptsg]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but it was just the info I was looking for. My father has a 3725c, and babies it around. 100 hours later, the dpf light was on steady and has been for a while. Our local dealer said to give it an Italian tune up. Which I did. But was questioning and wondering how to force a regen thinking a computer was involved. Now the light is out. And now learning the chisel trick is possible with this unit, that’ll be even easier than building a pipe and a computer flash as we had to do in our VW car.

Branson uses a DOC, so this means as long as the temps in the exhaust are good, it will continuously burn all the time. You don't get a regen interval like on vehicles with DPF.

Good thing about Branson is that you can take the computer out (or unplugged it), then either remove the guts of the DOC or replace it with a muffler. You'll have a perfectly good running tractor, that you can idle as much as you want without being worried with the emission thing. They are sold without Emissions here in Europe. Just a plain simple and regular muffler.

SlowpokeSlim did this to his tractor and he's been very please with its operation now. https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/century-branson/409434-exhaust-mod-my-3725-a.html?highlight=

 

[ericm979]

My understanding is it's a both a DOC and a DPF, though that doesn't matter for this discussion.

There's no regen. Or rather it's doing a low temp regen all the time, except when it's not being run hard enough. My 3725's tach has a green zone from 2000 to 2500, which Branson says to run it in. I can idle mine around some without problem (yet) but I also work it hard fairly often. If your dad can't or won't run it harder, replace the DOC/DPF with a muffler and tailpipe at the local muffler shop and save the DOC/DPF for the next owner while it's still working. It'll be worth more that way than with a broken emissions system.

The only computer is the data recorder, which is also the thing that figures out from the sensors that it's getting clogged. It will run just fine without it. Mine came with it unplugged and it ran.

BTW it blinks to let you know that you need to run it harder. First every 2 seconds, then every half second. On solid is the last stage. The shop manual has dire warnings at that stage, like don't run it.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Thunder Chicken,

Is your father storing his tractor outside? Or is it in a heated shop or garage?

I think a big part of the problems I was having were due to the winter air temps here being -30 to -40 degrees, and the DOC just couldn't get hot enough to keep itself clear. I really only had issues in winter, and my tractor sits outside year round. It's a tall order to expect that DOC canister to go from -40F to +1100F in time to not get packed full of soot along the way.

I'm pretty sure if I lived in a warm climate, I'd never have had any issues at all.

 

[Thunder chicken]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Yes, he leaves this machine outside, and uses it year round. When he jokingly commented he babies it around, I had to look at how the exhaust worked on his machine. I deleted my VW as soon as I learned about it, and am glad to learn how this tractor is built, it will be an easy fix when the day comes, cause I know he won’t give it the hard runs it needs. He grew up on an old cockshutt and his habits won’t change. It really Is a shame this is the way things have been engineered.....but I’m glad to learn that Branson dealt with it with this style of exhaust. My Kubota has worked fine for the short time
I’ve had it, but having to rev it up and let it sit 10-15 minutes just cause it’s In a regen seems like a waste of time and fuel to me....
I do like Dads 3725, it’s a nice machine and seems very well built for its size.

 

[Texasmark]

I posted this somewhere else: Neighbor has a 2016 green one and is a part time owner...comes out a few times a week. Sometimes I see them out in the field basically mowing circles just to clear the computer and turn the light off.

 

[troverman]

DOC-only is the cheapest and least effective method (Mahindra). Branson is a bit of a hybrid, with a low-temp continuous DPF burn behind a DOC. There is no option for an active regen, but there are sensors to make sure the filter doesn't plug. Full DOC-DPF is the mostly costly, and most effective emissions control system. That's why you see it on the more expensive tractors, i.e. John Deere and Kubota. Those use full computer integration of the DPF, including the ability to alter timing via precise electronic fuel injector control during a regeneration, extra injection events at bottom dead center of the power stroke, etc. This is also the same method used by all over-the-road diesel vehicles.

An active regen takes about 20 minutes, and doesn't need to be completed at that very moment if you don't desire to. You can also shut your tractor off mid-regen if you need to.

 

[ptsg]

Here is a guide to clean the DPF for Branson if anyone is interested. DPF is only present on the 6225 (sold in Europe) and the 7845/K series.

View attachment DPF-ja-katalysaattori-korjaamokirja-25-sarja.pdf

 

[LouNY]

Interesting read, thanks

 

[ericm979]

Wow, good find. That explains a lot, including verifying that it's a DOC+DPF. And it shows how we can remove the DPF part and get it cleaned should it need it.

Interesting that this document says to expect 750 hours before needing cleaning. I don't remember that from the factory manuals.