Buying a Branson

   / Buying a Branson #1  

Bowmbd

New member
Joined
Oct 2, 2019
Messages
22
Tractor
M4800
Good day all! I’m looking to purchase my first compact tractor and have been quite impressed by the Branson specs compared to other similar big name brands. I guess my first question is what are the good, bad and ugly about Branson? I’ve found some bad reviews online about the company but I know you can’t believe everything you see/read and these people could just have a vendetta against the company or just a bad experience with their dealer so I’d just like some honest feedback with experiences (I’ve also seen a lot of good feedback as well). My second question is what would everyone’s recommendation be on size and type of transmission? I have an acre and a half at my house I want to use it for clearing snow, laying stone on my driveway, clearing brush/blown down trees and eventually once my riding mower dies I’m thinking about adding a mid mount mower deck. I also have a farm where we rent the tillable acreage but I’d like to use the tractor for bush hogging and grading trails, till up small 1/4 acre food plots and other smaller maintenance tasks for hunting. If I feel I’d use a backhoe enough to justify buying one I might add one down the road as well. I’m leaning towards the 3015 but not sure whether to go with hydrostatic or gear drive. Any recommendations from previous experience would be much appreciated. Is the 3015 going to be enough power to accommodate these attachments and accomplish these tasks? Last thing I want is to buy a new tractor and realize down the road it’s not enough for what I want to do. Thanks in advance for any input and help in making this decision!
 
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   / Buying a Branson #2  
I will tell you that have a 4815C and I would buy it again. The tractor is a nice design and I really appreciate the simplicity of how Branson meets tier 4 emissions standards. I am not a fan of computer controlled engines on a tractor. I am a fan of mechanical direct injection.

As far as your other questions it is mostly preference that only you will be able to decide. I like shuttle shift transmission and rear finish mowers or flail for lawns. I also like R1 tires. But most people will like HST and R4 tires.

No matter what you choose good luck.
 
   / Buying a Branson
  • Thread Starter
#3  
I will tell you that have a 4815C and I would buy it again. The tractor is a nice design and I really appreciate the simplicity of how Branson meets tier 4 emissions standards. I am not a fan of computer controlled engines on a tractor. I am a fan of mechanical direct injection.

As far as your other questions it is mostly preference that only you will be able to decide. I like shuttle shift transmission and rear finish mowers or flail for lawns. I also like R1 tires. But most people will like HST and R4 tires.

No matter what you choose good luck.

Thanks for the feedback and I definitely agree with the less electronics and computer controlled the better. I own a 72 Case 580CK which has zero electronics on it and very easy to work on. It’s a shuttle shift as well so I’m use to that type of transmission and enjoy using them but have never used one for mowing a lawn. If it wasn’t for possibly adding a belly mower down the road I’d go with a shuttle shift, I’m just not sure if that would be a hassle trying to mow with or not.
 
   / Buying a Branson #4  
I believe that your Case 580 is a torque converter with a forward reverse shuttle,
the tractor shuttle would be a mechanical shuttle.
There is a considerable difference in feel and operation.
 
   / Buying a Branson #5  
OP,

I was all set to recommend a SCUT until you said you were going to work some acreage at a farm. I think a SCUT at the house with a belly mower and a FEL would be plenty of tractor for 1 1/2 acres, unless you get a ton of snow in winter.

But for the farm acreage? How many acres? Are you going to have other equipment at the farm to use for field work? A SCUT with a belly mower has very low ground clearance for doing anything in a field or working food plots with.

That 3015 has 25 pto hp. Which attachments, and how big, are you wanting to power from it? I run a 6 foot brush hog on 32 pto hp, and it runs it fine unless the grass gets heavy and over hood height. Then I have to slow down, which is no problem and easily done with a hydro trans.

If you have attachments now, which ones, and how big are they? If you don't have attachments yet, just make sure to size them down to the hp you have available.

Are you needing to transport the tractor to and from the farm and your house? Do you have truck and trailer with enough weight capacity for hauling a bigger tractor?

I'm thinking you could use a 2400 at the house, but like a 4820 to 5520 at the farm.
 
   / Buying a Branson
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I believe that your Case 580 is a torque converter with a forward reverse shuttle,
the tractor shuttle would be a mechanical shuttle.
There is a considerable difference in feel and operation.

You’re correct about the torque converter, thanks for pointing that out because I didn’t even think about the difference between that and a mechanical shuttle.
 
   / Buying a Branson
  • Thread Starter
#7  
OP,

I was all set to recommend a SCUT until you said you were going to work some acreage at a farm. I think a SCUT at the house with a belly mower and a FEL would be plenty of tractor for 1 1/2 acres, unless you get a ton of snow in winter.

But for the farm acreage? How many acres? Are you going to have other equipment at the farm to use for field work? A SCUT with a belly mower has very low ground clearance for doing anything in a field or working food plots with.

That 3015 has 25 pto hp. Which attachments, and how big, are you wanting to power from it? I run a 6 foot brush hog on 32 pto hp, and it runs it fine unless the grass gets heavy and over hood height. Then I have to slow down, which is no problem and easily done with a hydro trans.

If you have attachments now, which ones, and how big are they? If you don't have attachments yet, just make sure to size them down to the hp you have available.

Are you needing to transport the tractor to and from the farm and your house? Do you have truck and trailer with enough weight capacity for hauling a bigger tractor?

I'm thinking you could use a 2400 at the house, but like a 4820 to 5520 at the farm.

So for the farm field work isn’t a concern since that gets rented out to a local farmer. We use it primarily for hunting and have around 100 acres of wooded ground that was recently timbered. The reason I was thinking 3015 was for the extra ground clearance and extra pto power over a SCUT for attachments. The farm has a lot of mountain stone and tree stumps now to navigate. I currently don’t have any attachments since my 580ck can’t remove the backhoe. I’d like to be able to run a brush hog, tiller and box blade on the farm for maintaining trails and planting small kill plots in the woods, probably 1/4-1/2 acre max. I just don’t want to buy something too small and abuse the machine to get the work done. I have minimal experience with attachments so that’s where I’m looking for some guidance on what pto hp I need for what I’m looking to do. Majority of equipment I’ve run in my life has been old or way too big for what my needs are now.
 
   / Buying a Branson #8  
OP, I don't have a dog in this fight... I have a small Kubota that I am very happy with. As an FYI I do seem to remember that at one point since I joined the forum reading about multiple reports of issues with Branson not being supportive of dealers and owners (i.e. customer service and parts). Wanted to point that out as something to think about when considering a purchase. Might be worth checking to see how long your local dealer has been in business and how backed up they are on in their shop. Hopefully, those kinks have been worked out and things are going smoothly now.

For what it is worth I happen to live near the U.S. headquarters and there is one dealer in town and he seems to stay pretty busy.
 
   / Buying a Branson
  • Thread Starter
#9  
OP, I don't have a dog in this fight... I have a small Kubota that I am very happy with. As an FYI I do seem to remember that at one point since I joined the forum reading about multiple reports of issues with Branson not being supportive of dealers and owners (i.e. customer service and parts). Wanted to point that out as something to think about when considering a purchase. Might be worth checking to see how long your local dealer has been in business and how backed up they are on in their shop. Hopefully, those kinks have been worked out and things are going smoothly now.

For what it is worth I happen to live near the U.S. headquarters and there is one dealer in town and he seems to stay pretty busy.

Thanks, that is really my only concern at this point is support of dealer and honoring warranties. From what I’ve read some of the issues with tractors could have been operator error or just a faulty tractor. I get there’s no brand that sells 100% of tractors with no issues off the lot but backing up that warranty to fix an issue is definitely a must have. I’ve looked at Kubota as well but for what you get with a Branson and the price point it’s hard to not give them consideration. The dealer started in 2008 but not sure when he started selling Branson’s, definitely want to see how old the owner is and if he has a succession plan in place if he’s close to retirement. I know I’ll get a one-sided answer asking them about warranties and if they’ve ever had issues with them so that’s why I’m hoping to get some feedback on here from owners.
 
   / Buying a Branson #10  
So for the farm field work isn’t a concern since that gets rented out to a local farmer. We use it primarily for hunting and have around 100 acres of wooded ground that was recently timbered. The reason I was thinking 3015 was for the extra ground clearance and extra pto power over a SCUT for attachments. The farm has a lot of mountain stone and tree stumps now to navigate. I currently don’t have any attachments since my 580ck can’t remove the backhoe. I’d like to be able to run a brush hog, tiller and box blade on the farm for maintaining trails and planting small kill plots in the woods, probably 1/4-1/2 acre max. I just don’t want to buy something too small and abuse the machine to get the work done. I have minimal experience with attachments so that’s where I’m looking for some guidance on what pto hp I need for what I’m looking to do. Majority of equipment I’ve run in my life has been old or way too big for what my needs are now.
I think for size of attachments, staying with a 5' brush hog and a 5' tiller you should be ok with 25 pto hp. You still have the flexibility to slow the tractor's ground speed if you hit a tough spot with either attachment that starts to drop the engine rpms under the work load. Breaking fresh ground the first time will be hardest on the tiller, but after that, it will get easier the next season. Maybe a broadcast seeder driven off the pto?

What kind of snow removal attachments are you looking to use? A bucket on a FEL will work, but it is certainly slower to use. Are you thinking a snow blower, front blade, rear angled blade? How about a grapple for tree work? Are you going to want to run a wood chipper off the tractor pto?
 
 
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