Sad news, looks like I'm an orphan now

[hornett22]

I stopped by my Branson dealer this week to ask him a question. When I pulled up, I noticed his front lot was bare... and his side yard was also bare... when I pulled up to the door, I noticed a note taped to the inside of the window. I originally thought he was either remodeling, or relocating... Nope. According to the note, he's out of business. He does give the location information of a "truck repair" shop 100 miles away that can do repair work. They are not a dealer though.

Now a flood of mixed emotions come over me all at once, surprise, shock, and worry.

First off, I really like this guy. He's the reason I bought this brand, nice guy, good customer service, just a guy you enjoy working with, goes the extra mile, etc. None of the other dealers in town would have cared if I dropped dead or not, let alone if I bought a tractor or not. They acted like they did me a favor by having the front door unlocked so I could walk in. But my Branson guy, is a younger guy (ok, younger than me), and I know he's still got some young kids at home, I've seen them in the dealership over school breaks. I actually hope he's ok, and that nothing has happened to him health wise or similar that forced this change on him. Hope his family is ok too. I've thought about calling him, I have his personal phone number (yes, he's that kind of guy), but I don't want to pester him or embarrass him. Just wondering if he's "ok". This closure affects real people and in a negative way, I'm sure, so it's not just about "poor me, and my tractor". Hope that makes sense here?

Now this does obviously leave me with the reality that there's not currently a Branson dealer in the state of ND. The closest one is Sioux Falls, SD, which is 300 miles away. I know I can order parts, filters, etc from other Branson dealers online (and I will have to do this at some point this summer, service is coming due), but I also admit that I enjoyed the "security blanket" of having my dealer in town in case something goes wrong, or (more likely) I do something dumb, and need a repair done (I'm still under warranty).

I also hesitated to post this at all, as there seems to be a "troll fest" that lingers about on TBN with folks eager to disdain the smaller brands whenever the chance comes up. Yes Branson has had problems historically with their dealer network, and dealership support. I think they hired a new corporate guy last year that was supposed to take this on. I do hope they shore up this side of their business strategy soon (not just for my sake, lol). But it seems a shame to have such a great product with such poor corporate network support.

My tractor didn't suddenly stop being a great tractor, and I plan on keeping it. It's done everything I've asked of it so far. Funny thing is, it looks like we're going to be moving soon to a 40 acre place, and I was toying with the idea of what my options were if I can't get one of my new neighbors to hay my 30 acres of pasture for me. One of the things I was going to pick my dealer's brain over when I stopped by. For some reason, the idea of a 2400H and 7845 combo was entering my head... Lol.

Anyway, I wasn't going to turn away from, or try to hide, the "bad" info here. We Branson owners need to stick together, and share information, both good and bad, when it surfaces. So, I'm passing this on, not to be negative, or to say "I'm MAD" (I'm not), but it's about free flow of information and news. And I think we should do our best to keep each other informed when we can.

I may call my old dealer sometime in the next few weeks, just to see if he's ok. He's on my mind. I hope he and his "guys" were able to transition easily into something else. I hate to see good folks out of work.

Peace.

I'd give him a call. Might do him some good to hear a supportive member of the community. You never know what he's going through.

 

[hornett22]

I'm in a similar boat, but for different reasons. When I bought my 4020R a couple years ago, I lived in a large state with a few Branson dealers. One was about 20 minutes from me. For a few reasons, that dealership never worked out for me. I ended up buying the tractor (and a trailer to haul it with) from an excellent Branson dealer (who's active on TBN) over 300 miles away from me. Since then, we've pulled up stakes and moved to another state (Northwestern corner of Wyoming). The dealership I bought my tractor from is now 1000 + miles away from me.

My Branson has been trouble free and has done everything asked of it without issue. I will continue to order filters and such from the dealer that I bought the tractor from (and would also order other parts from them as well). Barring major mechanical issues, I can deal with just about anything that comes up myself, with some long distance help from my selling dealer.

According to the Branson website dealer locator, there is currently one Branson dealer in Wy. I know nothing about them, as they weren't on the Branson dealer locator until recently..............and they're on the opposite end of the state from me (SW corner). The locator shows no Branson Dealers in the nearby Billings MT area. There are a couple far away Branson dealerships. One or two in Utah, Colorado, and Idaho.

Back when I bought my tractor we were already planning a move to Wy. At that time, there were a few Branson dealers in WY and neighboring MT (according to the Branson dealer locator), including one about 10 minutes away from where I now live. That dealership is in fact long gone (along with those few other potential nearby dealerships that I'd seen on the locator before) and no longer on the dealer locator. All that remains of that close dealership is a locked up construction office trailer with a now unlit light-up Branson Tractors sign in the middle of an empty lot....

We'll soon be in the market for a smaller (than the 4020R) compact or subcompact tractor, and may be in the market for something larger (7845C or 8050 maybe) in a year or three. There's a good Kubota dealer (that unfortunately just dropped the Case-IH line as of this January after being an IHC/CNH/CIH dealership for decades) about 25 minutes from me. Next door to that is a JD dealership. In Laurel and Billings MT (45-70 miles away), there are MF/Agco, Kubota, JD, NH, and possibly other dealerships. Rather than have a new Branson shipped to me from Red Bluff, Ca or somewhere in Texas.........I'll likely instead go with Kubota as they're close and a known quantity. Disappointing and not the direction I'd like to take (the 2510H and the new 2505H would have been high on my smaller compact/subcompact list), but what'cha gonna do?

Keep an eye out. I've been hoodwinked by those dealer locators from several brands of products.

 

[LouNY]

Well hello Semi, welcome to TBN.

So far I have been fortunate enough not to need anything for my tractor. I am up on my 300 hour service however, and will be needing to get some filters for that. I haven't made contact with Mr. Bitz yet, but I think I will try to get filters from him this spring. There is a guy that lives one road over from me that also has a Branson tractor and he was talking to my other neighbor about it, saying that when Mr. Bitz closed down his shop, he had quite a bit of parts inventory that he brought home. So filters and such I think he can cover. I'm not sure if he'd have any other parts on hand for your hydraulic issue.

There are a few dealers on TBN that are always very helpful with questions and Asteral has kindly put up all of the shop manuals that he has access to for us to use.

About the only concern I have is matching an equivalent hydro fluid to my tractor when I change it out. Not sure if you've had any issues with yours, but when they did the 50 hour on mine and changed it, the first fluid they put in kept blowing the hydro filters off of my tractor. Now this was in the dead of winter (-40F to those of you not in ND) and we were pretty certain that the initial fluid was too "thick" at that temp. It did it 2 times in a row, and Mr. Bitz changed to another fluid that eliminated the issue entirely. So 250 hours later I'm needing to replace it again, and not sure what fluid to go with. I'm certainly not changing fluids for time of year, so I need a fluid that will work from -40F to +95F.

What fluid are you using in your 4520 Semi? How many hours?

I'm using Cen-Pe-Co multi purpose fluid in my 8050, been working good in cold as well as hot weather.
Hydraulic & Transmission Oils