Terrible Tractor July 4th Parade accident in Maine

[CliffordK]

Modern brake fluids are designed to absorb water (which is also part of the reason most of them are corrosive). I don't know about tractor hydraulic fluid, or hydraulic/tranny fluid, that may be different. Oil, of course, is hydrophobic.

Heat should cause the fluid to expand which shouldn't be bad (but also leak out of small holes). How hot were the brakes? Above the boiling point of water? If that was the case, then there was something seriously wrong with the driving.

A hill could affect the drain tube of a flat-bottom tank, but if the tank had a V-bottom or cone bottom, it wouldn't.

Pumping usually helps, but perhaps it depends on the cause of low brake pressure.

So far I haven't seen mention of a hand brake or emergency brake which typically is mechanical.

When I was on a government job, we had a checklist of everything the DRIVER should check before operating a vehicle, which I believe included most, if not all fluids, not that everyone took it seriously.

 

[tcartwri]

Years ago a buddy and myself drove a mid 30's firetruck in the Canada day parade in Ottawa. No brakes except for the e-brake. I handled the braking, he crashed through the first two or three gears. It was a silly thing to do, and we even drove it up and around parliament hill.

 

[Katahdin]

"The vehicle was slowed by the tractor, which became caught underneath it, and Heathcote eventually was able to stop the heavy vehicle by pulling the emergency hand brake, investigators concluded."

In the picture from the Bangor Daily News link, the driver appears to be both standing on the floor pedals and pulling a hand brake with his right hand.

 

[94BULLITT]

Thanks for the update.

I wonder if they checked the brake fluid before the parade?

There is DOT 5 brake fluid. It is silicone based.I like to use it older vehicles for 2 reasons. It is not hygroscopic and it does not harm paint.

 

[sixdogs]

Thanks for the update.

I wonder if they checked the brake fluid before the parade?

There is DOT 5 brake fluid. It is silicone based.I like to use it older vehicles for 2 reasons. It is not hygroscopic and it does not harm paint.

Maybe I'm wrong but I do not think DOT 5 is compatible with DOT 3. DOT 4 seems to be a compromise and is OK with DOT 3.

I built a street rod and used Dot5 fluid and there was a warning not to combine DOT 5 and DOT 3. That was 15 years ago so maybe things have changed.

 

[94BULLITT]

Maybe I'm wrong but I do not think DOT 5 is compatible with DOT 3. Dor 4 seems to be a compromise and is OK with DOT 3.

I built a street rod and used Dot5 fluid and there was a warning not to combine DOT 5 and DOT 3. That was 15 years ago so maybe things have changed.

They are not supposed to be mixed. You have to flush all the DOT 3 out and clean the system before adding DOT 5.

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[Mace Canute]

With a 6.4 degree slope and an inch of fluid in the reservoir, there shouldn't have been an issue with uncovering the piston and allowing air into the system. 6.4 degrees is a rise of 1 in a run of 8.9711. With the slow speeds they would obviously be traveling I can't see boiling of water contaminated brake fluid as happening either. What I can see happening is a worn lip on a seal folding over on itself and allowing fluid to bypass. That happened to me many years ago on a 1980 3/4 ton Chevy 4x4 when the seal on the master brake cylinder wore thin on the bottom side where it had the most friction in the bore and likely the most debris in the fluid also. Zero brakes and my pedal went to the floor! Fortunately I had the distance to pump the brakes and it "caught" the second application and I was ok and an immediate master cylinder replacement cured the problem.

 

[Danno1]

Maybe I'm wrong but I do not think DOT 5 is compatible with DOT 3. DOT 4 seems to be a compromise and is OK with DOT 3.

I built a street rod and used Dot5 fluid and there was a warning not to combine DOT 5 and DOT 3. That was 15 years ago so maybe things have changed.

That's correct. But there is also a DOT 5.1 which is compatible w DOT 3/4.


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[sixdogs]

That's correct. But there is also a DOT 5.1 which is compatible w DOT 3/4.


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Good to know. I'll add that a system with DOT5 fluid in it--which is a silicone fluid--gives a pedal with a funny and "spongy" feeling. Not at all a good feeling in a hot rod.

 

[94BULLITT]

Good to know. I'll add that a system with DOT5 fluid in it--which is a silicone fluid--gives a pedal with a funny and "spongy" feeling. Not at all a good feeling in a hot rod.

I have never noticed the spongy pedal with DOT 5.