MF 251 XE BRAKES

[BDC]

Hello,

I have a MF 251 xe. I use it on steep terrain primarily for mowing with a 6' Brush Hog. The tractor seems hard to keep stopped when changing gears from reverse to forward. (I have the 8X2 transmission) I asked the dealer about this and he replied that since the tractor has a direct final drive rather than the planetary system, these type of tractors are harder to stop. Is this correct?

I understand that the planetary system slows the tractors axle for low speed work but does it affect the braking of the tractor?

I am interested in your opinions.

Thanks
bdc

 

[JerryG]

I am like you, I don't see how that would make any difference. Did you buy the tractor from this dealer?

 

[BDC]

Heh, heh, no...lol. I bought it off a rival JD Dealer. It was used with 20 hrs on it. 4wd, FEL, canopy, and a trade difference of 10,500.00 I could not pass it up. At the time I did not know what shuttle shift was or planetary gears on final drives was. I had an 1985 2wd MF 250 with 2500 hrs. (The MF Dealer was also trying to buy it off of the JD dealer at the same time I later found out lol)

The MF Dealer's theory is that if the planetary system is slowing the axle therefore the tractor requires less brakes to stop. He claims they (MF) put less brakes on the planetary system tractors for this reason and used the same braking system on the direct drive tractors which leads them to not have enough brakes.

I was wondering if anyone else has heard of this?

 

[rcraft]

Tractors like the MF 65, 165, 265 and larger have the planetary gear system on the rear axle and the brakes on these tractors is internal and are more effective. The brakes on the 135, 35, 50, 150 etc and your's are external drum brakes and are not as effective unless you keep them adjusted. They are adjusted just like normal drum brakes on a pickup truck. You need to raise the rear wheel and turn the adjusting star wheel inside the drum until you feel a drag on the tire when rotated, then back the adjuster off a little. That should improve the brakes.

 

[BDC]

Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a try.

BDC