What happened to the Branson website?

kybota · Sep 7, 2004

I was thinking about putting the new Branson 20 series (3820/4220/4720) into the mix for my new purchase, but for months the only specs available were on the older, lower horsepower models.

For at least two weeks now, maybe longer, the website seems to be down entirely. Maybe they want to redirect to Kukje for specs? It makes me a bit leery of longterm support and business stability with the website being outdated for so long, and now completely down.

What do you think is going on?

www.bransontractor.com

rameye · Sep 8, 2004

To the best of my knowledge, Branson, Century, and Zetor are now being marketed under Zetor by Century. You can get there thru the Kukje website. Same great tractor, just one name now.

Kinda like rolling Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth under the Chrysler name....no biggee

CMunger · Sep 8, 2004

We have new literture for the new series tractors if you would like some sent to you. Need to know what part of the country your in?
Chuck M.

kybota · Sep 8, 2004

I guess I'm a bit confused. The Kukje site

Kukje web site

implies that the Century and Branson lines are the exact same. Someone suggested elsewhere in this forum that they have (had) different importers, or maybe they were referring to Zetor. Is the Branson name being phased out since their web site seems to be history?

Just curious were the marketing/support/future of the brands is headed. I've reviewed a bunch of threads in this forum and maybe I missed it, but I haven't seen any information about this.

DavesTractor · Sep 8, 2004

rameye, not so.

Kukje's are being brought in under the Zetor brand and also by Kukje directly under the Branson brand. The slowness in repairing the website is a frustration to us dealers as well, but it is only that.

Great tractors to be sure!

rameye · Sep 9, 2004

Dave,

So what you're saying is that we will still see Branson and Zetor by Century, but no more Century?

Egads!

Sorry, that's what my dealer told me. Cant figure out why they would market the same tractor under different names.

MicroPilot · Sep 9, 2004

( Dave,

So what you're saying is that we will still see Branson and Zetor by Century, but no more Century?

Egads!

Sorry, that's what my dealer told me. Cant figure out why they would market the same tractor under different names.
)

That is my understanding. AmJawa is the impoter for both Zetor and Kukje/Century tractors. My take is that AmJawa is looking to present a COMPLETE line of tractors under the better known Zetor name. In the mean time Kukje had inked a deal with Cummins to produce an engine for them and decided to put this (or similiar) engine into the CUT's they are producing for AmJawa and Dragon Tractors (the Branson Importer).

The end result is that the tractors AmJawa is buying from Kukje and putting the Zetor name on (instead of Century) are getting engine/HP boosts.

Really, from AmJawa's perspective this makes sense, because they now have products with the same brand name (Zetor) in the 20 HP to over 60 HP.

kybota · Sep 16, 2004

I've been checking every day and they are back online. Long time gone, though. And the specs are still for the old lower horsepower models and not the new models my dealer first received a couple of months ago. Anyone out there in TBN know what that is about?

Seems like a lot of tractor for the price I was quoted, but I wonder if I'd regret it long term; i.e. future parts, support, implements, etc.

Branson Website

Bob_Skurka · Sep 16, 2004

I noticed not all the links on the website are working properly.

Evasive1 · Sep 16, 2004

I really think Branson will be around for the long haul. Their sales are increasing rapidly and they have an extremely strong parent company.

In case of an unlikely event that Branson goes away and you need parts for your Branson the Century is the same tractor. Now that Century tractors are now Zetor this company is even stronger now. Zetor has been around for a long time and now by bringing in Century under the Zetor name it only makes them stronger. So parts for a Branson should remain easily obtained.

Bob_Skurka · Sep 16, 2004

Just out of curiosity, who is Branson's parent company?

I was under the impression that Branson was owned by a couple guys who contracted with Kujke of Korea to build tractors for them. The Bransons are simply a rebranded tractor made by someone for someone. Mind you I am not saying that is bad. NH is made by Shiburu (sp?) and for years JD had machines made by Yanmar. But the way I understand it, Branson is a company all by itself with no ownership stake in Kujke and Kujke is simply under contract to make a bunch of tractors with a Branson logo on them. Kujke is a strong company based on my superficial search, but they are certainly not the parent company of Branson (unless the Branson website is wrong about who owns Branson).

Century and Zetor, from what I can tell have no ownership in Branson. Century basically was swollowed up by Zetor, and Zetor has Kujke under contract to build tractors for them. Those tractors are the Century machines, which just happen to be the same machines that Branson has made for them. So by default, Branson parts can be purchased at a Zetor dealer and Century/Zetor parts can be purchased at a Branson dealer.

The local NH dealership just picked up Branson tractors. They are being sold as a quality tractor at a lower price. But from what I can see there is no parent company that owns Branson. Am I wrong?

Evasive1 · Sep 16, 2004

Maybe I just used a bad choice of words when I said parent company when referring to Kukje. The point being that the tractors were built by a reputable company that has been around. I should of said a strong manufacturer. As it has been explained to me too, there is no link between Branson and Century. Century is imported by American Jawa limited, who also imported Zetor. This year they started to bring in the Century tractors as Century by Zetor, which quickly became Zetor tractors.

DavesTractor · Sep 16, 2004

Kukje owns a majority share of Branson Tractor Company (USA). This is a fairly recent development. It's a win-win situation.

BillG_in_TX · Sep 16, 2004

Dave,

This confirms the rumor in this post from back in May. Good news for Branson and Branson owners, I'd say. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Now if they could just hire someone to update their web site! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

DavesTractor · Sep 16, 2004

Now if they could just hire someone to update their web site! 

Amen to that. We as dealers get a few sales from corporate websites and it's a bummer when they are down. You can be sure we have mentioned the fact to Branson. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

MicroPilot · Sep 16, 2004

Are the Century tractors being marketed by Zetor anywhere other than the US? I was under the impression that the rebranding of the Century line as Zetor was a marketing move by the Importer, AmJawa, and that Zetor didn't have anything to do with it other than approving their name being put on the Kukje/Century tractors.

Evasive1 · Sep 16, 2004

Bill,
Went back and read your post. Really nice summary. Your prediction seemed to pan out exactly like you stated. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

kybota · Sep 17, 2004

Bill, I'd also like to say that that is the clearest explanation I've seen of Kukje/Zetor/Century/Branson relationships. I guess that may be where it is at now.

Of course, I Don't know how Kukje stands in the ag business these days, as that is a tough industry to compete in. I will definitely look for corporate finance info on them if I decide to buy Branson.

Bill, are you still considering Branson like you were in May?

BillG_in_TX · Sep 17, 2004

My conjecture back in May on Kukje's involvement with Branson was gleaned from veiled hints posted on TBN by Branson insiders. Certainly no inside knowledge here. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I still think that the Kukje is the best value for MY situation. But the way the compact tractor market is evolving, that may not be the case in a year or two, which is when I may be upgrading. For now, I'm enjoying doing the research and trying out all the different models. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

kybota · Sep 20, 2004

Update:
Since the website returned last week, I thought I'd go check the loader specs for the 20 series. Now it is password protected and I cannot get to any info.

I'm guessing this is just from working out the kinks while developing a new site, but it is aggravating.