4X4 downhill traction issue

locknut · Jul 16, 2013

Made some progress this week on the brake project.Dropped the tractor off at the local ATV dealer so they could help me figure out the best type fittings and order correct length brake lines.A buddy at work worked on truing up the discs on the brake lathe as they wobbled a bit(took the discs off and trued the spacer rings) and were slightly out of orbit on the roll.I made the caliper brackets from some 4" by 1/4" thick angle iron I already had.Only took me 10hrs to make them and get them painted

The first pic is shot from the rear of the left front wheel.

KubotainNH · Jul 16, 2013

Now that's what I'm talking about. I'm curious to see how you rig up the master cylinder and if you use the same brake pedal. This thing may stand on it's nose.

JWR · Jul 16, 2013

Neat project and looks good. I don't know what the connectivity is between the front and rear wheels on your machine. If it is solid (as opposed to some sort of fluid) then the brakes you apply on the front wheels will also brake the rear wheels while you are in 4wd through the drivetrain. That works in spades on large farm tractors. At some point I begin to wonder if you are investing too much in a small machine , but then we all have our hobbies and ... hey looks like a workin' machine !

csr0831 · Jul 16, 2013

As usual Locknut.....impressive work....

locknut · Jul 16, 2013

KubotainNH said:
Now that's what I'm talking about. I'm curious to see how you rig up the master cylinder and if you use the same brake pedal. This thing may stand on it's nose.

The cylinder has two line outputs,one for each caliper.It will be actuated with a hand lever,yet to be fabricated.Not knowing how much torsional twisting force the axle housing will take,I will not be trying to stand this thing on its nose.

locknut · Jul 16, 2013

JWR said:
Neat project and looks good. I don't know what the connectivity is between the front and rear wheels on your machine. If it is solid (as opposed to some sort of fluid) then the brakes you apply on the front wheels will also brake the rear wheels while you are in 4wd through the drivetrain. That works in spades on large farm tractors. At some point I begin to wonder if you are investing too much in a small machine , but then we all have our hobbies and ... hey looks like a workin' machine !

Yea,that's the problem,there is no mechanical link between the two axles as the front is hydraulically driven and has very little holding resistance.And yes,it's a fairly expensive project but the consequences of a runaway tractor downhill can be much more costly.

locknut · Jul 16, 2013

csr0831 said:
As usual Locknut.....impressive work....

Thanks Chris.Where there's a will,there's a way.Hope it works as planned.

bubbacuse77 · Jul 16, 2013

Outstanding work. I love to see guys overcoming problems with their own ingenuity.

94BULLITT · Jul 16, 2013

locknut said:

Nice progress.

Your brake caliper is on the wrong side.

locknut · Jul 17, 2013

94BULLITT said:
Nice progress.

Your brake caliper is on the wrong side.

You mean the bleeder screw on the bottom? I can still bleed em out and after the air is out it won't make any difference.Or,I'll check tonite to see if they will swap sides.

JWR · Jul 17, 2013

Maybe he meant front versus back ?? I'm not sure why it would matter.

94BULLITT · Jul 17, 2013

You will not get all the air out with the bleeder on the bottom.

locknut · Jul 21, 2013

Ok Roger,I swapped sides and the bleeders are on top.The saga of the the sliding tractor is now fixed.The brake system is very smooth and controlled.The last pass I made in the video below is 35 deg and can go fast or slow and stop at will.There's also a pic of a steering stabilizer I added to fix a horrible death wobble inherent to this model.

Click;

94BULLITT · Jul 21, 2013

It looks safer to operate now. 35* is pretty steep.

jenkinsph · Jul 21, 2013

Looks good, hope this will resolve your problems. Very nice work and resourcefullness.:thumbsup:

JWR · Jul 21, 2013

Probably means 35%. A 35 degree slope is over 70% and you are not going up or down a 70% slope on any wheeled vehicle.

94BULLITT · Jul 21, 2013

JWR said:
Probably means 35%. A 35 degree slope is over 70% and you are not going up or down a 70% slope on any wheeled vehicle.

Click on the picture of him on the mower. It is 35*.

bcp · Jul 21, 2013

JWR · Jul 21, 2013

bcp said:
View attachment 328516

Yep, that's the right chart. If you double click on it, it will come up in a size you can see/read the numbers. The 35 or 40% slopes are quite tractable for wheel vehicles. The 35 degree (over 70%) slopes are not feasible.

locknut · Jul 21, 2013

JWR said:
Yep, that's the right chart. If you double click on it, it will come up in a size you can see/read the numbers. The 35 or 40% slopes are quite tractable for wheel vehicles. The 35 degree (over 70%) slopes are not feasible.

Hey JWR,come on over.Another 30ft back it goes up to 40 deg and a lot farther to the bottom.We'll have some real fun then..