Improving Parking Brake

[MossRoad]

I ordered a parking brake pedal and brackets from the junk yard at lunch today. It won't be pulled from the wreck until Monday. So no work on my project until next week.

 

[Barryh]

I ordered a parking brake pedal and brackets from the junk yard at lunch today. It won't be pulled from the wreck until Monday. So no work on my project until next week.

MR, I can't figure out where you're finding the time to do all of this, backhoe included. I'm having trouble finding the time to do a simple hydraulic filter change, and my kids are grown and gone. You’re the man. TGIF

 

[MossRoad]

Have you ever seen me post about a completed project??? Nope!

I''m the king of started projects!

 

[Barryh]

Have you ever seen me post about a completed project??? Nope!

I''m the king of started projects!

don't know about that I would say your Web site is very helpful to all nebies here, and speaks for itself. Once again thanks for the tip on the milk carton, you saved me a lot of time from cleanup this morning changing out the hydraulic filter.

Could be my imagination but, the hydraulics seems to be running much smoother, and now does not make the groaning noise it made from day one. In any case don't want to go off topic here. My brakes are now adjusted, and working fine also. Need to get everything maintained before the cold weather sets in. Will be curious to see your braking system carry on.

 

[MossRoad]

I picked up the brake pedal assembly yesterday and spent a short while siting things in in the left footwell. I thought about putting it on the left side, like in the car, and that would work fine. The pedal is depressed almost to the firewall when the brake is off and won't be in the way, however, it sticks out pretty far when the brake is on and could make it difficult to enter and exit the tractor with boots on.

So I got to thinking that I may remove the current parking brake handle and stops, remove the mounting brackets for the Impala brake pedal, reverse them and attempt to mount the brake pedal in the same location as the original parking brake. I need to grind out about a dozen rivets from the unit before attempting this. The nice thing about this setup is it looks like I may not need to re-route any cables. It will require a mod to the tunnel's left side cover so that I can remove it for inspection and greasing.

I'll post some pictures probably this weekend, if it is nice and I don't get sidetracked from the backhoe project.

 

[Barryh]

Moss,

I know your brake idea will turn out great. I also gave this a little thought this weekend while outside working. What I may do as just a simple improvement would be to make a place or mount, on the side of my Rop's to keep a simple breaker bar as in tubing.

I may take the rubber handle off the lever, and just use the breaker bar to engage, and disengage the brake. This way I can tighten the brake lever extra tight to hold, and also get it on and off without any problem. Just take the breaker bar/extention off the mount slide over the handle use, and put back.

 

[toy]

Moss,

I know your brake idea will turn out great. I also gave this a little thought this weekend while outside working. What I may do as just a simple improvement would be to make a place or mount, on the side of my Rop's to keep a simple breaker bar as in tubing.

I may take the rubber handle off the lever, and just use the breaker bar to engage, and disengage the brake. This way I can tighten the brake lever extra tight to hold, and also get it on and off without any problem. Just take the breaker bar/extention off the mount slide over the handle use, and put back.

On my pt the brake handle was a little hard on the palm of the hand when setting and releasing it especially if it had coasted some and the weight of the machine was on othe pins. To solve the harshness on the palm of the hand I took a chair tip that snuggly fit the lever and then one that snugly fit over that tip and that made a big softer ball that I could put more force against to set and release the brake. When releasing the brake I barely tram it back or forward which ever will take the weight of the machine off the pins. That solved my problem and was an easy fix, however you might be having a different problem than this if so could you describe it. I did have one occasion where the spring that pushes the pin out when you set the brake wasn't pushing it out I did have to clean that and lubricate it.

 

[Barryh]

On my pt the brake handle was a little hard on the palm of the hand when setting and releasing it especially if it had coasted some and the weight of the machine was on othe pins. To solve the harshness on the palm of the hand I took a chair tip that snuggly fit the lever and then one that snugly fit over that tip and that made a big softer ball that I could put more force against to set and release the brake. When releasing the brake I barely tram it back or forward which ever will take the weight of the machine off the pins. That solved my problem and was an easy fix, however you might be having a different problem than this if so could you describe it. I did have one occasion where the spring that pushes the pin out when you set the brake wasn't pushing it out I did have to clean that and lubricate it.

Toy,

If you go to the # 2 or the second series of this thread you will see the problems I had, and it is now fixed and working fine. What you did to solve your situation, is similar to the extended handle idea I have.

I think we just need a little more leverage on the handle; the way it is tucked up under the console makes it harder to use. I know when mine is over tightened; I almost have to use my foot to release it when parked down hill thanks for the input.

 

[RegL]

I wonder if you could rig up an electric solenoid to operate the lever, or use other linkage connected to the cables.

 

[MossRoad]

I really think the cable linkage is fine. It is two problems...

1. The pins lock in place with pressure from the weight of the tractor if it rolls forward or backward on the pins, or is driven forward or backwards while the pins are engaged. This makes it hard to disengage the pins, as you have to drive the tractor back and forth a bit to get the pressure off the pins. You can accomplish the same thing by turning the steering wheel right and left as the wheels will roll when you turn the unit.

2. The brake lever is held by friction. If the friction is too tight, the lever is hard to move. If the friction is too lose, the lever won't hold the brakes disengaged, and they will engage while driving along.

I can deal with issue #1 and don't see it as a problem. #2, however, is a pain that I want to cure. I cannot get it adjusted to that happy point where the brakes will remain off AND the lever is easy to operate. That is why I am replacing it with a foot operated parking brake pedal from a car. The friction lever issue will be gone forever, as it is being replaced with a ratchet lever that requires no friction.

I hope it works out well.

 

[BobRip]

I really think the cable linkage is fine. It is two problems...

1. The pins lock in place with pressure from the weight of the tractor if it rolls forward or backward on the pins, or is driven forward or backwards while the pins are engaged. This makes it hard to disengage the pins, as you have to drive the tractor back and forth a bit to get the pressure off the pins. You can accomplish the same thing by turning the steering wheel right and left as the wheels will roll when you turn the unit.

2. The brake lever is held by friction. If the friction is too tight, the lever is hard to move. If the friction is too lose, the lever won't hold the brakes disengaged, and they will engage while driving along.

I can deal with issue #1 and don't see it as a problem. #2, however, is a pain that I want to cure. I cannot get it adjusted to that happy point where the brakes will remain off AND the lever is easy to operate. That is why I am replacing it with a foot operated parking brake pedal from a car. The friction lever issue will be gone forever, as it is being replaced with a ratchet lever that requires no friction.

I hope it works out well.

My little bracket seems to address your item two. I am reasonably satisfied with the brake operation at this time. I will probably not make any additional changes other than to paint it.

 

[BobRip]

Attached is a picture of the painted dog. I sanded it and it did not turn out too bad.
I have been using this routinely and feel it is a very good improvement. I have not installed the spring, but I probably don't need it.
This is easy to build and easy to make the parking brake engage and disengage.

 

[MossRoad]

Looks nice. My parking brake mod has been put on hold due to too many activities that require dad's presence(Church, school, student government, softball, cheerleading, karate, quiz bowl, pet care and knee replacements). Oh, well. I'm pretty sure that in the big picture, raising children and watching out for the folks always trumps tractor mods...

 

[BobRip]

Moss, sound like you have your priorities right.

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah, but I still like to play once in a while.

 

[BobRip]

I thought I would bring this too the top. I have been using this for 8 years now and am very pleased with it.

 

[Poorman1234]

After reading the post above...These thoughts come to mind.

1) Use the brake as intended, when intended. This keeps you safe.

2) To do #1, the brake must be made easy to use.

I made the brake easy to use by making a simple tension control to keep the tension on the lever constant, while making it adjustable to the value desired. I removed their bolt, use a longer one that will accomodate two locked nuts and a newly added, 1/8" thick, slightly bent (about 1/4"), string-steel washer (also known as a wavy washer spring) inside the tractor frame. This makes torquing the bolt a direct function of rotation torque on the brake lever. The lever base and the tractor frame are your friction elements. This works no matter the weather as differential changes in the bolt, lever material, and tractor frame are small compared to the dimension able to be absorbed by the wavy washer spring.

Note: If your brake lever bolt is threaded into the tractor frame with a jamb nut on the inside, the wavy washer spring may be placed between the lever and the tractor frame for the same result.

Next, make their lever longer. Rather than a 6" straight lever, I welded on a additional length rod to make mine 12" long with an additional 6" for a 90 degree bend at the handle end. The handle lays flat across the tunnel when not in use and lays against the steering column when in use. Neither place interfers with getting on or off the tractor. The long handle makes for 2-finger operation as tension never changes due to the first mod and the more convenient placement make for easier use. I even reused the original rubber grip on my extended handle to keep a factory look.

I fought the probelms you describe for the first two years I had the tractor...constantly readjusting to get the brake tension loose enough to use, but tight enough not to move on its own. Since the modifications, I have not once needed to re-adjust the brake in more than seven years.

See Photo.