[unsquidly]

"Other korean tractors" Kubota is not a korean tractor. Under 50 hp kubota is by far the best tractor sold. Ive got three with thousands of hours without issue... I like Branson alot and being built by tym seems to have not changed there heavy duty quality...

Depends on who you talk to......Several on here have had major problems with TYM tractors......As for your luck with Kubota, that is great but some of us on here have had very similar service out of other brands of compact tractors......

And you are correct, Kubota is not a Korean tractor company. It is Japanese

 

[SidecarFlip]

Actually, the early small Kubota clones were Korean or Chinese copies and the early Kioti's were manufactured using Kubota's obsolete and sold tooling. Also why Kubota sued Kioti over Trade Dress infractions (and lost btw), over the orange color and why Kubota changed from Orange I in the early tractors, to Orange II in the later models and changed from ROPS blue to ROPS grey. Orange II is a lighter shade of orange used in Kioti's and they went from the blue chassis color to the present day grey. If you have an early Kubota you want to get your orange and blue chassis paint from a Kioti dealer. Rustoleum offers Orange II and Magic offers Orange I. Neither offer the blue or grey chassis paint.

I believe Kubota switched colors sometime around 2001. Still have a Kubota branded can of spray paint in ROPS blue on the shelf with the old Kubota trademark on it, from many tractors ago.

 

[SidecarFlip]

And you are correct, Kubota is not a Korean tractor company. It is Japanese

In reality, Kubota builds many of their smaller units in Georgia now and all their implements (like loaders are made there as well as all their UTV's. Only the larger M's come from Japan as do all the engines and the really large Kubota ag tractors are built in Europe by Steiger (I believe) and Kneverland and Kubota bought Great Plains Manufacturing a few years back so they build the attachments like box blades and other implements but they also build implements for other brands as well.

Kubota is trying to make inroads into the large unit ag market by buying other smaller manufacturers. Like all their current hay tools, mowers, bailers and rotary rakes, all built in Europe and Italy (where all the round balers are made at). I have one. I've always considered the Itallians tp be excellent farm implement builders.

 

[SidecarFlip]

If I'm not mistaken (could be), Branson tractors and implements are rebadged TYM or Kujuke (sic) units, made in South Korea.

 

[DK35vince]

If I'm not mistaken (could be), Branson tractors and implements are rebadged TYM or Kujuke (sic) units, made in South Korea.

It's my understanding Branson (Kukje) were the same company and TYM acquired them in 2016

 

[SidecarFlip]

Sounds good to me.... Just had a Branson dealer open up, up town. Don't see anything big though.

 

[automobob]

I have had a Branson 48hp hystat with loader and extra hydraulics for front and rear.for about a year. I have about 100 hrs on it. So far.....no problems. My feedback on this Branson would be that as all hystat machines you loose some power vs the manual transmission. The shifting is reluctant and feels kind of cheap made along with the 4wd/2wd shift. Sometimes I cant get it in or out of 4wd without moving the machine a little. Ok, that is the negative. The positives have outweighed the neg. overall. First, the tractor was almost half the price of the Green popular tractor out there allowing me to spend that money on the extra hydraulics and attaching implements. Another advantage over the Green tractor is the skid steer adaptor on the front loader arms. JD has its own and you have to buy their stuff to attach to it. With the skid steer adaptor I can by from Titan and endless other mfg of attachment implements. The AC has worked and the heater is good. It stars well even in cold weather (if you let the glow plug do its thing firest of course), before starting. The lifting is strong. I did like that it out weights the competition by almost 1000 lbs which is good for pulling traction. Steering is good and sharp turns. I did have a temporary coolant leak, then it stopped....still dont know where that came from or why it stopped but will keep posted... The hystat is kind of loud so the radio is hard to hear in the cab but that is kind of par fot the design, understood. It is a bid tight to get in and out when your 6ft 1" 300 lb man but after using a while ya kind of develop a habit of how....good luck on choosing your tractor and I hope this helps!

 

[pblanton]

I have a 2015 Branson 3520H that I bought new in 2015. It has about 700 hours on it. I have had four problems with it in that time.

I did have the instrument cluster go out on it at 375 hours and it cost $800 to replace. Apparently the instrument cluster is NOT part of the power train warranty, even though it is what monitors and controls the power train. Go figure.

Another issue I had was one of the springs that holds the hydrostatic pedals in place broke. That meant that I couldn't let go of the pedals and have the tractor sit still. I took both springs off and found comparable springs at Tractor Supply. They were tougher, stiffer springs, but they work fine and I imagine they will last forever.

One of the springs that holds the FEL lever in the middle is broken. This causes the fel bucket to slowly curl up. I have temporarily solved the problem with a bungee cord hooked to the bottom of the lever and down to the door hinge on the little glass panel. To fix it properly will require me to disassemble the valve assembly and replace the springs. I have a new valve for adding a new hydraulic port to the FEL that I plan on installing this summer, and will fix the main FEL valve springs at that time.

The damned DPF! My 2015 tractor was the first year model in which the EPA required a DPF. I don't run my tractor full throttle,plowing fields all day so the DPF would get clogged and kill the engine. I had to load it up on a trailer and take it 100 miles to the dealer twice to be cleaned out. The third time I asked them if there was anything they could do to ameliorate the problem. The guy said, "well, we can make it 'breathe' a little better for you" wink wink. I said, "DO IT". After that I haven't had a DPF clog issue since. It does smoke a little bit from time to time, but not like it would if it had no DPF. I presume they drilled a few holes through the DPF media but haven't been curious enough to take it off, open it up and have a look. The first time I had a DPF clogging issue I had a local muffler shop make me a regular muffler for it and I'd swap the DPF out for the muffler everytime I needed rescue it or to transport it. I still have the regular muffler for it, but i haven't used it in years. With the regular muffler it does smoke a lot, is much louder but seems to have more power. I like the modified DPF better than the regular muffler even with a slight reduction in power.

The most annoying and repetitive minor issue I've had is the front tires. I simply cannot get them to properly hold air. If I don't check them for proper inflation everytime I use the tractor, one of them will pop off of the rim. I never can get the bead to seat right on the rim myself and whenever that happens I have to take the tire into a tire shop to get it fixed. I've tried slime, and other things but that is just a waste of money and time.

Most tire shops give me trouble, not wanting to work on agricultural tires, but they all eventually fix it for me. I don't know why tire shops are such jerks when it comes to ag tires, but they are all crappy to me when I take on in for repair. Many times they end up not charging me but not charging someone for seating and airing up a tire is not enough apology for treating me like a fool whenever I arrive.

Otherwise my tractor is in good shape and works great. I change the fluids on it at the recommended intervals and quickly fix things when they break.

The dealer I bought my Branson from was in Berthoud Colorado and did go out of business a few years ago. There is another new dealer in Peyton, Colorado which is much closer to me. Their flagship brand is McCormick, which is a re-badged Kukje / Branson, so I should be able to get any parts or service I need from them, but I don't imagine I'll ever need a dealer again now that my warranty is expired. I'll just buy my tractor parts on line and do the work myself.

So there's my first hand experience with a Branson tractor. If I had it to do over again I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Branson; though I'd get a bigger one. Always get a bigger tractor than you think you need.

Update:
---------
Oooh. One more issue I forgot is one of the spring/hydraulic struts that holds the hood up died. They are about 125pound struts and the hood is too heavy for just one of them to do the job.

I couldn't find the exact replacement for them easily, quickly and cheaply, so I ordered a pair of 150 pound lift cylinders from Amazon for about $18 and replaced them both. The new ones are 17" and the original ones are 16" so I had to drill a new set of holes in the steel bracket inside the engine compartment that they bolt to, which was no big deal. Now the hood comes up quick and stays up while I am washing the tractor, changing oil or cleaning the air filter.

In case that happens to you, the replacement struts I got work great, and are these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093DGL2R5

If the forum removes the link just search Amazon for the item number: B093DGL2R5