Why left and right brakes?

[Steppenwolfe]

Like a tank, if you apply one brake fully, with the other off, you can turn the tractor in about its length.

Helpful in tight fields with Three Point Hitch mounted implements.

Ditto, was very handy when plowing in tight corners, edge of fields, and used those left / right brakes the most when cutting hay in the olden days with a sickle bar.

 

[DaveNJ]

Yup break steering,just remember to lock in both pedals when traveling the road.

Yes, otherwise a very exciting ride may ensue

 

[SandburRanch]

Anyone that ever operated a D John Deere then a tractor with L-R brakes knows the benefit of brakes.

 

[jeff9366]

A Prophet, not fully appreciated in his own Time.

Potential for Sainthood in the future.

 

[dieselcrawler]

No, they belong on the right side so you can use your left foot for the clutch pedal.

X2!!!!! Real tractors have a clutch! (So says a guy who is just stuck with his low HP gear drive only what he could afford but secretly wants hst)

I have run a buddy's hst L4310 kubota, and wondered why there's not a duplicate hst pedal on the left for those times split brakes are needed, or as I've seen on a JD 4066R, left side brakes and right side hst pedals.

Aside from discussion about adding a left side hst pedal, my buddy and I talked about a hst hand control that could be used in such situations, when needed. But you start running out of hands, left on steering wheel, right on loader joystick, none left for hst hand lever.

 

[ericm979]

I cannot press the brake and the forward pedal at the same time.

On my B7100 I could operate the brakes with my toe and the forward HST pedal with my heel. Perhaps that would work for you.
My Branson has the brake pedals on the left which works well with HST, but the diff lock pedal is on the right. I'd need a size 22 shoe to operate the HST pedal and diff lock with the same foot.

 

[vsteel]

They are also helpful when you are making a corner in a field where the soil has been worked. For example you just got done using a disk or 1 way on a field and now are going over it with the planter. The 2 wheel drive tractors don't alway like to turn well and want to push in the soft soil. A little nudge with a single break will help make the corner.

 

[teg]

:stirthepot: Split brakes were a must for 2 wheel drive tractors, especially ones without FEL (weight on front axle). They are great for gear tractors where your foot isn't on a "gas peddle". I love spinning on a dime... for "U" turns.

Split brakes are not needed as much for HST tractors since a 3 point turn is pretty effortless (no gears to grind). Also, 4x4 tractors will grab and bite into turns... It seems that Split brakes are mainly a left over design from yesterday's tractors... hence the stupidity of having brakes and the HST peddle on the same side. Although I've been told I have two left feet (dancing) I don't have 2 right feet to use both peddles...

I mow sometimes for fun with the 4x4 turned off... and my tractor is pretty useless in 2x4 (most of that due to my R4 tires).

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

On my B7100 I could operate the brakes with my toe and the forward HST pedal with my heel. Perhaps that would work for you.
My Branson has the brake pedals on the left which works well with HST, but the diff lock pedal is on the right. I'd need a size 22 shoe to operate the HST pedal and diff lock with the same foot.

This one surprises me. We have the same tractor (although mine has cab), but my diff lock is on the left, and back almost to the seat riser, just to the side of my front diff engage lever. Did they move the diff lock because of the cab (or lack of)?

 

[ericm979]

I think the sheet metal around the seat is different on the open station vs cab models. Maybe they fixed it in the cab model or they think more cab buyers will get HST. The right side location makes sense for a gear tractor but not HST.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Hmm, seems strange to me they'd go to all the trouble to change the location, but yeah, you'd think they'd automatically put it on the left side for an HST trans tractor. I don't think I climbed onto a non-cab model to even look at it (had my mind made up on the cab).

 

[boggen]

ever backup a pickup truck. and your off like 1" from the ball to trailer hookup. so you pull ahead a few extra feet and crank the front wheels back and forth. as you reverse.

granted tractor you have good visibility for 3pt hitch hookup. you still need to be aligned and more so darn near straight with the implement, in order to hook up both lower lift arms, plus top link.

non of that coming slightly or more at an angle to hookup to a trailer with a ball.

kick the split brakes and crank that rear end over, letting that front come around to align you up with the 3pt hitch.

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gotta love mowing around trees. more so smaller younger trees. and you due 4 plus circles around it trying to mow 4 sides down on it. slow it down some, hit the split brakes, and crank the wheels and ready to go with hopefully single circle around it. with very little that needs to be trimmed with a weed whacker.

mowing and all the various turns, from long U shapes, to figure 8's, to how ever sharp you turn 90's and not mowing down a partial side till ya finally get turned. lock one tire up and spin it around and keep on going. some areas around this farm. you turn more than you actually cut....

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FEL. just way to easy to put FEL on ground and loose all pressure on front tires to point front tires come off ground. nothing to keep you going in correct direction without split brakes.

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snow plowing / snow blowing / rear blade / or like on driveways, and you are not wanting to get off driveway into grass, or you end up tearing up the grass. i am no about to forward, backward, forward,backward and crank front wheels each direction 4 to 8 plus times to get turned around.

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FEL with a bucket hooks, and you got something chained/strapped to bucket trying to load a bed of truck from the side. and you got just a tinyness of a rut, even a slight hump. i have worked the split brakes, in order not to run into side of truck.

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most noticeable for me, is getting my rear unstuck. be it mud, ice, snow, hill, creak / waterway. i dis-like seeing black skid marks from tires melting as they spin without traction.

 

[Alesandro]

boggen:

Thank you for the examples.

 

[joeu235]

A couple years ago I was pulling a 32 foot flat bed with a tractor. The trailer was full of people who had just finished tubing a local river. The tractor started sliding down river bank and I was very lucky that I had the brakes decoupled.

 

[kgw51gmc]

Not only for skid steering, which is awesome, it's also so when you are going through ice, snow, mud, up hill etc and one wheel starts spinning you hit the brake on the spinning wheel, then the non-spinning wheel starts pulling. It's amazing, you are your own traction control, you are the computer.

 

[Alesandro]

Man you guys kick ***!! I was moving dirt today and I have to drive forward from where I dug dirt out of. So my lil machine gets a lil wobbly and stops going forward. My diff lock works but I try not to use it as I'm working a small 20'x20' little play area. So instead of going and reverse and trying a different angle, I unlocked my brake peddals and pushed on the side that was spinning, took me forward right out of the hole I was in. I'm already starting to get used to it backing up and making smaller turns.

THANKS FOR THE HELP GUYS!

 

[stlbill]

Because you are using individual brakes with throttle applied does it cause excess wear on brake friction surfaces (e.g. "lining", "pads")? For all of the reasons mentioned herein it seems like it would more efficient to have individual throttles compared to individual brakes.

I believe I have seen some big boy earth moving machines that turn one track forward while turning the other in reverse as opposed to only moving one side in a single direction.

 

[k0ua]

Because you are using individual brakes with throttle applied does it cause excess wheel on brake friction sufaces (e.g. "lining", "pads")? For all of the reasons mentioned herein it seems like it would more efficient to have individual throttles compared to individual brakes.

I believe I have seen some big boy earth moving machines that turn one track forward while turning the other in reverse as opposed to only moving one side in a single direction.

The brake surfaces are bathed in the hydraulic fluid so they stay pretty cool. And since they are designed as "turning brakes" I would think they would have a pretty long life. Does it eventually cause some wear? Well, everything wears out eventually. But I don't have any qualms about using them. Wouldn't you need 2 engines and two drivelines to have individual throttles ? Multi engined boats and multi engined aircraft of course have them and they can be used for steering. But I haven't seen much of that on a CUT tractor.

 

[Alesandro]

Because you are using individual brakes with throttle applied does it cause excess wear on brake friction surfaces (e.g. "lining", "pads")?

I don't think so, since it's an open diff when I apply the brake (what ever side it may be at that time) I don't think there's much force from the motor on the side being held.

Anyone else?

 

[Carleola]

I have a 2016 Kubota B335o Cab. It has brakes and Diff-lock on the LHS.