Branson 4720H Whine

[Eric1973]

Last week I bought a used Branson 4720H with 74 hours on it. I've been using it to pull logs out of the woods and then stacking them on a deck that I'll have hauled to the mill.

On Sunday it started to whine loudly when I would drive up a hill to take another turn down to the landing, it would only do it while going up the hill. I checked all the fluids and they all looked good, there's now a little over 82 hours on the tractor and the guy I bought it from had changed the fluids and filters for the 50 hour service.

Monday I started out and it didn't whine until the tractor had been running for a couple hours. I was pulling a log on a flat area. I keep the tractor in 2nd gear and the RPMs between 1600 and 2000.

Any ideas? I've read various things on the forum about when the hydraulic oil gets hot it'll whine with various other tractors, think that's what's happening here?

 

[YanmarFever]

Sure sounds like your fluid is getting hot all right.

Maybe the previous owner changed it at 50 hrs, but he used a cheap quality fluid.
If it were my tractor I would change the fluid & filter again, using a high grade oil.

 

[DavesTractor]

I agree with Ernie, and I'll also add that make sure you do not have the three point arms all the way to the top so much that you are bypassing fluid through the pressure relief. That will heat the oil quickly. Also, use the lowest range that will give you adequate speed. Lastly, the Branson hydros are noisier than most even on a good day.

 

[Eric1973]

I didn't consider the three point arms being up too high. That might have something to do with it. I do try and keep the arms lower when I'm running around because the tractor rides better with the farmi winch closer to the ground.

He used John Deere hydraulic oil when he changed the fluids, not sure what formula he used. I'll be looking into changing the oil out. What kind of hydraulic oil would be suggested by you folks?

Looking into the Chevron and Texaco oil that's referenced in the manual it says that it's compliant with the J20C so will any oil that is compliant with that be a good substitute?

 

[YanmarFever]

Case HY-Tran is a good oil for when things get hot...

 

[FF117]

My Branson seems noisier than other brands, but its always noisy. It doesn't get worse during use and the fact that yours gets louder after a couple hours makes me believe that the fluid is getting hot. I used Carquest Premium Hydraulic fluid for my 50hr change and everything seems to be working fine. I can't seem to find the email now, but I asked Branson's customer support about which oil spec I should look for since I was having trouble finding recommended oil. They said as long as I used a premium J20C rated fluid with anti-foaming agents it would be fine.

I remember reading somewhere that if you are going to let your tractor idle for a while to make sure the range selector is in nuetral. I don't know anything about how hydros work, but it would seem to make sense that the fluid could get hot if you let it idle in gear.

 

[Stimw]

Also check the brand of filter. There are posts here where people have had problems with after market filters.
I paid too much for my tractor to use after market filters! And NO, I don't work for Branson. But My 3510 is my baby and I want to keep it happy.

 

[Eric1973]

I was able to figure out what was causing the whining/squealing noise and it has nothing to do with the hydraulics.

Just after I got the tractor I had gotten it high centered on a small stump where I was logging, used the FEL to get up off of it. Anyway, it squashed down the protective sleeve for the drive line running to the front tires of the tractor. I was able to get it back into more a round shape and it's quit the squealing.

Just wanted to put up a note on the solution. Having no experience with Hydro transmissions and seeing other posts about the whining I thought that was what I was experiencing. KISS principle applied to my case.

 

[DavesTractor]

Just after I got the tractor I had gotten it high centered on a small stump where I was logging, used the FEL to get up off of it.

Always nice to get the rest of the story, and the solution.

 

[Zork]

Always nice to get the rest of the story, and the solution.

Lol....

 

[ARNAUDVILLE]

thanks I had the same problem .

 

[Texasmark]

I look for 2 specs for my tractors, not because I have a JD (which I had several and currently don't) but because if any spec is posted, J 20C shows up for the premium fluid required in today's tractors, and JD 303 shows up for the yesteryear tractors like my Fords.

The whine in hydraulics usually is little bubbles in the fluid cause by a compression of some sort in the line changing the flow from "laminar" to restricted/released, causing "turbulent" flow where the release is essentially a vacuum "pulling the oil apart" sorta thing.

The hotter the fluid the more volatile and the easier it is to "pull it apart". The hydraulic circuit is a closed loop and the pump is pumping on the one hand and sucking on the other....source of the vacuum. It's kind of like boiling water. At one atmosphere it boils at 212F but if you pull a vacuum on the container you can get it to boil at a much lower temperature. Not a hydraulics expert but that's how I see it.