Who Owns Branson Tractors?

Branson's parentage begins with Kukje Machinery, a Korean industrial company founded in 1968 that grew into one of the country's major agricultural machinery producers alongside TYM, LS Mtron, and Daedong. Kukje built tractors for the domestic market and, from the 1990s, began exporting to North America under the Branson name.

The Branson brand developed a specific identity in the US market: heavy cast-iron construction, mechanically simple designs, and an emphasis on weight and traction over electronics. Its tractors earned a following among property owners and small farmers who wanted a substantial, straightforward machine, and the brand built a dedicated dealer network anchored by its Rome, Georgia base. A marketing tie-up that supplied Branson-sourced tractors to other brands, including a period in which Bad Boy sold rebadged Branson compact tractors, extended the name's reach.

Kukje's independence ended in 2016 when TYM, itself a 1951-founded Korean maker, acquired the company's assets, a merger that combined Korea's second- and third-ranked agricultural equipment firms into its largest. TYM kept both brands rather than consolidating them, reasoning that the Branson dealer channel and badge carried real value in North America.

Under TYM the brand has been repositioned within a two-brand strategy: TYM-branded machines form the modern flagship line while Branson continues as the value-and-strength alternative sold through its own dealers. TYM's FY2025 revenue reached KRW 929 billion as it pushed both brands across North America, with the US operation run from the same Rome, Georgia site that built Branson's following.