JD 4052R HST vs Branson 4820/5520CH (I chose a MF 2850M)

[espacef1fan]

Avoiding the obvious discussions I’ve found myself in a position to choose between these two tractors. The cost per month would be almost identical due to better financing rates being available on the Deere.

I plan on keeping the tractor for 10-20 years minimum.

The Branson has a separate lifetime extended warranty on engine/power train.(It’s written like a home warranty sort of)




The main tasks I’ll be doing with the tractor will be:
- Mowing with a 6 foot finish mower
- lifting pecan super sacks (1500-2500 lbs) onto a car hauler
- operating a lane shark type loader mounted brushcutter
- general landscaping work



Both tractors will run the finish mower perfectly

Both tractors weigh almost the same.

Both have similar hydraulic implement pump flow for the lane shark operation.

There are two key area of concern I have:

-Loader capacity. The 440R loader has 6” more lift height than the Branson BL200 liader(110” vs 104”) however the Branson has more lift capacity at the pins at full height 2701 lbs vs 2539 lbs. Both have a 2500 psi relief valve.

Is the Branson optimistic with their loader rating? Is the John Deere conservative? Are they comparable in the real world capacity or is the difference as much as indicated on paper?


- Is there any notable features on the John Deere or Branson that will make any of my tasks noticeably easier or less stressful on one tractor vs another.

 

[ericm979]

My Branson can pick up things that weigh more than the listed capacity. But I'm not lifting that to full height. Lift capacity is always greatest at the bottom and least at the top. It'd be interesting to compare the breakout values for the two loaders.

The newer 20 series have a 4 speed range trans with an H pattern shifter which would be a big improvement from my Branson's 3 speed. I'm not sure but it might even have synchros so you could shift on the move (maybe only with the gearbox and clutch models not HST).

 

[espacef1fan]

JD breakout is 4017 at the pins
JD also claims 3000lbs at the pins at 59” above ground.

Branson breakout is 3660

 

[Williy]

If you have a chance you might give this tractor
a test drive.

willy

 

[kenmac]

yanmar makes a good machine, but this is way to complicated to operate. Also too many problems to go wrong. Yanmar doesn't have a very good dealer network to be able to have something like this repaired when something happens.
In my area, anyone can be a yanmar dealer. Even a person with a fruit stand selling fruit can be a yanmar dealer

 

[Fixastuff]

Drive them both to see which hydrostat system is smoother/you like more.

 

[JM7500]

I have a 4820R with the BL200 loader. It has plenty of capacity. I caught the grapple on something cleaning up brush. It lifted the rear of the tractor and a 6' heavy bush hog off the ground easily and very quickly.

I had a couple of warranty issues (hyd leak and fuel leak) and the dealer took care of them without any hassle.

 

[Boswell]

I bought a Branson 5520R a couple of months ago. I looked at many brands of tractors. One of the single biggest deciding factors was the simplicity of the Branson emissions and fuel delivery system. I did not want a tractor with an ECM. Having the possibility of a check engine light or even worse "limp mode" was not something I wanted to possibly deal with now or 10 years from now. Nearest dealer too far to be beholden to. That being said I currently have 71 hours trouble free and yet to go through a regen. Lift capacities are phenomenal both front and rear. I lift very large logs for my portable saw mill.

 

[YanmarFever]

We choose a Branson 5520R cab over a Deere or a Kubota simply because of the lifting capacity and the price.
I mow with a Bush Hog 2910 10' wide mower and the Branson handles it with no problems (so far) it has 16 hrs on it.
The grapple on it just rips the trees out of the ground and we have a lot of trees here.

 

[North to Alaska]

Branson does not have a computer.
Tier 4 emissions is a simple cat style exhaust that burn the particles as you are driving. Does have to maintain a high heat which can be difficult in cold winters.
on the other hand, they are easy to swap out for a muffler. Since no computer, the tractor could care less if you swap out the emissions system for a muffler. Probably get more horse power!

my BL200 loader would lift the back of my 4520r off the ground, even with a 500lb box blade. I have since filled the rear tires and I do much better now with it.