Branson Tractors

Petras

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Any of you fellas run a Branson Tractor around your property?

Been lookin at them pretty hard for around the new property. Only have 5 acres right now, but we heat with wood. Moving firewood, loading logs on the sawmill, tilling garden spots, and maybe more if we decide to try and buy more land. Wife would like to maybe have a horse or two some day, so maybe the ability to hay wouldn't be a bad thing.

I know they aren't going to be a major workhorse, but, for what we are going to be doing I think it would work just fine.

Anyone have any input? Don't see a lot of them around here as the nearest dealer is actually in Minnesota. Looking at a 55 horse model with a cab. Let me know the good and the bad!
 


Petras

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The one that I'm looking at is a fully cabbed unit with 55 horsepower. it is also about 20k cheaper than a comparable Kubota. I don't even see an option for a Deere in that 50hp range with an enclosed cab.
 

SLE

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Deere has options but you'll pay $20k more for a new machine equally equipped. Kubota used to be the best when it came to value vs durability but they've raised prices enough so that they aren't that far from Deere. There a bunch of other brands, they are all nice however the thing to be aware of is parts availability and service as they are all made overseas. Bobcat is basically just a rebranded Kioti, LS makes the New-Holland boomers and I believe the Montona tractors, then there's TYM whose is tied in with Massey Ferguson, Mahindra to some extent. There's also Yanmar who used to build the smaller tractors for Deere back years ago. an the Branson which I believe is a standalone brand also made in South Korea.

I have a Kioti built 2013 Bobcat CT445 with a full cab currently with 140 hours on it. Its a great machine however there are issues already trying to find certain parts kits. I wanted to add a second hydraulic aux kit to the rear this past year. You could buy all the parts individually but couldn't buy it as a kit any longer, end up sourcing a dual aux kit which basically came from an overstock warehouse from bobcat of non-current / made parts. So I now have a brand new full single remote kit laying on my work bench as all of the single remote parts were duplicates for that part of the kit (PM me if anyone needs one!). The good part of Bobcat, they have a good dealer network around ND that supports them so you do have a source for parts and service and most of the dealers have been around a long time and aren't going anywhere. I would be weary of buying from a dealer that only carry's Mahindra or any of these off brand tractors. To many times those dealers that try to do it stand alone with one of these overseas brands never last long and then there you sit with a tractor that might not have a dealer within a reasonable distance. Take Mr Bitz Tractor in Bismarck who used to sell Branson and is now no longer around.

If you go with any of the off-brands, I'd suggest getting all of the accessory stuff you may ever want as they may be tough to come by down the road. things like auxillery hydraulics, Mid or Front PTO, rear window wiper kits, radio's, ect. in many cases they have this stuff and if push came to shove you could rig something up but it's never as nice as the integrated factory stuff. I would also suggest getting one that might be sized a little large than you think you need. Once you have a utility tractor (if you've never had one) you'll find a million uses and having extra hp or capacity is you friend.

With all of that said, Deere and Kubota are simply better quality machines, parts are typically more readily available and available for many many years, and the little details and ergonomics are better thought out for the operator. If I had to run one every day and rely on it as a business or such, there would be no question it would be Orange or Green. These off brands can be great value for those that don't need them on a daily basis and if you have to wait a few weeks for parts in the event something happens where it's just not that big of a deal, they fit a nice economic spot in the industry. At the end of the day, they aren't that complicated of machines and most of the parts are relatively generic when it comes to maintenance items, engines, filters, and drive systems.

Good Luck
 

Allen

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Along the line of what SLE mentioned, I would strongly encourage a person to buy a "gently used" JD or Kubota. I run a 2006 JD 4120, it's 43 hp, but you can get the same frame with up to 70(?) hp. It's been all I need for running a 7 ft tiller, bushwhacker, dirt and snow moving, pallet forks, tree removal, etc.

Neighbor has a slightly smaller Kubota that's only a couple years old, I spent some serious time in it last year spraying weeds at both of our places. It's nice with really good ergonomics, but the fit of some of the cab stuff seemed to leave me a little wanting. Stuff like the cab insulation was pulling out from under the trim, etc for no particular reason. But the operator's station was comfy and had a decent radio and AC unit.

I get it, it's a pretty good sized investment, so you want to get it right. But things like my JD with only 1,000 hrs on it are available and that means the major components should last me a lifetime. I think I bought mine for just under $20k in Minnetucky with around 900 hrs back in 2013. Doesn't have a cab though, but they are out there.

I would start by looking at TractorHouse.com for what's available in a reasonable commute. You can rent a trailer for a couple hundred bucks to go pick something up.
 


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