Oil & Fuel 2015 Branson 3520h DPF Issue

[Kentuckyfarmer]

Yesterday I used my Branson to move a bunch of snow with the FEL. I found the loader worked best (quick) at 2000 rpm. The tractor guzzled fuel pretty fiercely. When I mow or grade I prefer to run at 1500 rpm. The tractor isn't as noisy and the fuel efficiency goes way up. Is 1500 RPM for hours on end going to clog the Soot burner?

I couldn't tell you if running it at that rpm would lead to the doc clogging up. I wouldn't think so but could be wrong too. I started having problems because I idled it warming it up. I'm old and old school. Grew up on a farm and drove tractors for many years. Years ago we always warmed them up before using them and not run the guts out of them while they were cold. I believe and its only my opinion it isn't as hard on an engine if warmed up before you put it to work. Maybe the reason all those old tractors lasted so long. Every farmer that lived around us in those years did the same thing. I know now I can idle it, warm it up and run at what ever rpm I want to and not have to worry that a thousand dollar piece of junk is going to have to be replaced or serviced and I'm not running the crap out of it when it's not properly warmed up. It cost right around a hundred bucks and a couple hours to not have that worry on my old mind anymore. I say run it how ever you want to and if you start to have problems remove it. No more problems.

Also the closest dealer to work on this tractor for me is over a hundred miles away. This 2015 Branson is just as easy and as simple to work on as the 14 year old Kubota I have. I don't think I'll ever haul it a hundred miles to have it worked on. I'll think I can tackle anything that goes wrong with it myself.

 

[pblanton]

After having the DPF off now for a few days, I have come to the conclusion that the engine is mis-tuned and that's what has caused my DPF to clog solid after only 62 hours of use.

When I run it at mid-range, it runs fine, but when I run the throttle up to 80% it misses a bit and puffs smoke. At full throttle it misses like crazy and smokes like an advertising executive in the 1960's. Clearly it is making smoke way faster than the DPF can burn it off.

I'm taking it to the dealer for some warranty work and will have them clean the DPF and re-tune the engine so that it doesn't smoke so much... then after I bring it home. I'll put the muffler back on.

 

[Kentuckyfarmer]

After having the DPF off now for a few days, I have come to the conclusion that the engine is mis-tuned and that's what has caused my DPF to clog solid after only 62 hours of use.

When I run it at mid-range, it runs fine, but when I run the throttle up to 80% it misses a bit and puffs smoke. At full throttle it misses like crazy and smokes like an advertising executive in the 1960's. Clearly it is making smoke way faster than the DPF can burn it off.

I'm taking it to the dealer for some warranty work and will have them clean the DPF and re-tune the engine so that it doesn't smoke so much... then after I bring it home. I'll put the muffler back on.

How high in altitude are you? I wonder if these things are tuned for lower altitudes where they come from. Just a thought.

 

[tb8100]

How high in altitude are you? I wonder if these things are tuned for lower altitudes where they come from. Just a thought.

Not sure, but I have heard from quite a few end users that the naturally aspirated models (such as the 3520h and R) will quickly plug the DPF at certain altitudes, but the turbo models will not.

Worst comes to worst, buy the turbo that fits the 4020 and mount it on there. I'm not sure if there would need to be any fuel pump adjustment for the air/fuel ratio or if there's a difference in the compression ratio on the engine off the top of my head (probably not), but it would perform better than the naturally aspirated model.

 

[LincTex]

When I run it at mid-range, it runs fine, but when I run the throttle up to 80% it misses a bit and puffs smoke. At full throttle it misses like crazy and smokes like an advertising executive in the 1960's.

This bad.
Where do you get fuel from?
Is it a bio-diesel blend?

 

[pblanton]

I talked to the dealer today. They're at about 4500 feet and the tractors come to them tuned for sea level. They tune them for their altitude, but I live at 7000 feet.

The tech I talked to said there's not enough oxygen at this altitude for the amount of fuel, especially at high rpms.

I took the fel off today and loaded it on my trailer. I'm taking it to them tomorrow so they can tune it for my altitude, clean the dpf and button it back up. It's all under warranty.

 

[Kentuckyfarmer]

I talked to the dealer today. They're at about 4500 feet and the tractors come to them tuned for sea level. They tune them for their altitude, but I live at 7000 feet.

The tech I talked to said there's not enough oxygen at this altitude for the amount of fuel, especially at high rpms.

I took the fel off today and loaded it on my trailer. I'm taking it to them tomorrow so they can tune it for my altitude, clean the dpf and button it back up. It's all under warranty.

When I seen where you were from that's the first thing that came to mind. I'm at about 860 ft here but as I said in previous post I warm it up before using it. After a couple dozen times doing that I noticed problems. We will see how it does this spring when I take it to the field and start working it. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[pblanton]

I dropped it off at the shop yesterday and the tech said they would tune it for my altitude and "make it breathe better". He said, "It'll smoke a little more when we're done, but you won't have any more DPF issues.

I asked, "Are you going to punch out the insides of the DPF?"

He noticeably broke eye contact... looked away up into the sky and said, "No. We can't do that. We're just gonna make it breathe a little better and the result will be that it smokes a little more but the DPF won't clog again."

Then he looked back at me with a very slight smile.

I said, "Ok. Well, you're the experts." and shook his hand.

 

[LincTex]

I said, "Ok. Well, you're the experts." and shook his hand.

No.

I would say I've already spend an a$$load of money on another exhaust system. Provide me with a functioning DPF so I have one that works when I sell it.

 

[dancath]

Obviously you had the dpf back on when you brought it in.If it is under warranty why not just get a new one then put your diy back on if you think it might clog again.

I have a 4720hst don't know if it would work but I would be interested it buying it if it does.

Thanks

Dan

 

[pblanton]

Obviously you had the dpf back on when you brought it in.If it is under warranty why not just get a new one then put your diy back on if you think it might clog again.
Dan

No. I took it in with my new muffler on it. I still hadn't removed the sensors or data logger, so it was still all hooked up and the light was still flashing like mad. I told the dealer that I had put the muffler on it so that I could rescue it from the road where it stopped running, and load it onto the trailer and told him I wanted the muffler back after he was done with it. He didn't have any problem with the muffler being on there.

Really the only reason I took it in was to get the DPF cleaned under warranty and to get the engine tuned for 7000 feet. If they modify the DPF so that it works and the engine looks stock, I'll be ok with it. If that happens I was planning on cutting the tail pieces off of the muffler and using it for my home generator, but if someone wants it then I'll sell it. It would be a shame to cut up a drop in replacement for a Branson DPF as long as someone can use it.

 

[dancath]

Thanks for the reply. I do not think it would work because yours is 3 cyl. mine 4.But not sure. I want to get rid of my dpf because I don't want to operate it at such a high rpm seems crazy to me and it burns a lot of fuel.Plus I do not want to wreck the dpf because of the value of it.

Thanks again

Dan

 

[pblanton]

Thanks for the reply. I do not think it would work because yours is 3 cyl. mine 4.But not sure. I want to get rid of my dpf because I don't want to operate it at such a high rpm seems crazy to me and it burns a lot of fuel.Plus I do not want to wreck the dpf because of the value of it.
Dan

Dan, If it comes down to it, I will measure mine and you can see. I suspect it will fit, because, even though your engine is longer, there is no reason for them to make a longer DPF. It makes sense to make one that is usable on many engines. I would bet that my muffler will fit on yours.

 

[pblanton]

I do not want to wreck the dpf because of the value of it.

The DPF actually has no real "value" as the word is defined. It chokes the engine, uses more fuel and costs power in the effort to make the exhaust less smoky. while I appreciate less smoky exhaust, I don't want it at the expense of fuel costs and engine power.

So, while it provides no "value" is is an expensive piece of detritus or harmful engine bling.

 

[Mr Bitz]

Amen!!! I bought this kind of tractor knowing it wasn't computer controlled injection and didn't use def. I knew I could fix the problem if I started having problems with the soot cooker clogging up which I did. No more problems. In the winter time I Speer a bale of hay and feed cattle then I'm done. I'm not going to have a tractor I have to hook up to some implement and run the ball sack off it to warm it up when I don't need to. I have enough to do. All the years we lived in Minnesota on a dairy farm we always had at least 4 tractors. Was in the 50's, 60's and 70's. We used them for what was needed and then parked them. All were diesels and sometimes were run for a couple minutes and sometimes run for a couple hours in the winter. All used motor oil, hydro oil and gear oil. Same as the one I have. Never had problems with moisture of any kind. Just had problems starting when it got below zero and weren't parked where we could plug them in.

Well said

 

[Kentuckyfarmer]

Well said

Thanks. Even though I live in Kentucky and have been here for some time now I still consider up north home. Although things really are not the same meaning the small dairies are all but gone and most is just crop farms anymore. Was up there a couple years ago and all the little sale barns we use to go to for our weekly entertainment were either gone or closed. Sure do miss snowmobiling, and the hunting and fishing up there.

 

[Hombre]

An "older" thread but I thought I would chime in with my 4020R issue and my resolution. Bought the tractor last summer (2016) now has 72hrs on it mostly from snow removal this past winter. Was working on our gravel drive the past week (about a mile long) and the "idiot" light came on, tractor still ran fine but I was a bit concerned. Stuck my foot in it and ran for an hr or so at 22-25 hundred rpms with box blade and back blade. Went through a tank of fuel pretty fast. After shutting it down and then a restart the light would go out for awhile then come back on. O.K., enough of this crap, I don't want to have to run this thing maxed out all the time, and there is some idle time with the way I operate a tractor, changing implements, working around the tractor at times for a few minutes and don't want to be shutting down and restarting 20 times a day. My solution was to remove the filter, (removing the hood to do this job would make it a whole lot easier, I didn't but if I had to do it over I sure would) dismantle the filter (two clamps, don't mess up the gaskets), it was pretty much clogged. Drilled a bunch of holes through the "innards" using a 14inch long 1/2 inch concrete drill bit, then took a hammer and removed the entire insides. Put it back together, everything hooked up as normal (probes) tractor runs fine, no lights on dash anymore. A little smoke on startup but that's about it. I also don't notice anymore exhaust noise at all, the DPF filter does have a baffle in it on one end so maybe that's why. Not a recommendation, but it is a solution at no cost but a couple hours work. Pop the hood, everything looks "stock".

 

[mopardude318]

I can't believe the use of these DPF filters on these small tractors... SMDH...

 

[Cougsfan]

Thanks for the post, Hombre. That sounds like a whole lot better solution than refitting a new muffler. I have noticed that the fuel economy is considerable worse when I run mine at or above 16-1700 RPM. I have so many jobs that don't require running it at high RPMs. I also have to start mine and use it just a few minutes. It is just a matter of time before my DPF clogs.