Park brake for skid steer (help!)

Timbersawz · Jul 18, 2015

Im currently trying to tame a ridgeline to hopefully be able to build a house on. My battle so far has been with building the track/driveway up. Its 400 yards long and for most of it climbs at a rate of 1 to 5. I have thrown all my spare time over 18 months getting as far as I have.

I have brought a cheap skid steer to help in the hill fight, its a Halidig that was made here in NZ in the late 80's early 90's and it was built without a handbrake (later models were fitted with them)

The obvious issue is that if it breaks a hyd hose, engine quits or breaks a drive chain (or take your pick of potential break downs) I would have no way of stopping this thing on such a treacherous site.

I need to build a park brake for it, needs to be something simple to build as the machines not easily removable from the site and I dont have any sort of workshop facilities there, but could run a welder, grinders etc off a generator.

One idea I had was to run a type of long bar or pin that would go from inside the cab, through the side of the skidsteer and into the spokes of the front wheels on each side. The hydraulics generally offer quite a bit of resistance from it rolling, but I need something that will mean im not rolling 200feet down to the creek.

Ideas gentlemen?

as you can see its excellent tyre grip allows it to hold upside down!

franklin2 · Jul 18, 2015

It may be difficult to get a pin through a opening in the wheels once you are running down the hill out of control. If your speed was low you may be able to jam it in there but you would have to realize what's happening and react fairly quickly before you got going too fast.

As far as a chain breaking, both sides would have to break at the same time correct? And both hoses on both sides? The ones I have worked on had two control valves, and two separate hydraulic motors with separate lines. So both sides would have to let loose before it ran away correct?

Cord · Jul 20, 2015

This won't help if you break a chain, but would something like work? https://www.surpluscenter.com/Hydra...K-VALVE-1-2-NPT-25-GPM-3000-PSI-9-5606-50.axd As for the chain, worst thing that will happen is that the machine will spin in circles. It shouldn't go rolling away.

Timbersawz · Jul 22, 2015

Yeah the pin idea does seem crazy even to me, but its simple to do

Looks like that valve block might work! I would put it between the control bank and drive motors I take it?

SimS · Jul 22, 2015

Just lower the bucket. Instant brake.

SimS

Timbersawz · Jul 23, 2015

SimS said:
Just lower the bucket. Instant brake.

SimS

Wish it was that simple! even dropping the blade on my skidder isnt enough to hold it

Wont work if facing uphill, probably wont work if theres a mechanical failure on ground this steep facing downhill. I havent been able to operate the skidsteer facing downhill in most areas as it tips fowards onto its front bucket, loosing most of the material its carrying.

SimS · Jul 23, 2015

Wow. I'm having a difficult time envisioning your work site. If the blade/bucket engaged into the ground won't hold the machine from rolling/moving; how are the four tires locked going to do it? On every skidsteer I've seen, the ground engagement tool can overcome the traction of the tires. You're a lot braver man than I working on that steep of a work site. Maybe a skidsteer isn't the right equipment to do your job safely. Good luck.

SimS

franklin2 · Jul 25, 2015

I still say the way the ones I have worked on are setup, there is redundancy built into the system. Two hydrostatic units/pumps, two sets of hydraulic hoses, two hydraulic motors, usually two drive chains per side. The chances of something happening to both sides at the same time would be very rare indeed.

RPW · Jul 27, 2015

IMO for that steep of grade a wheeled SS isn't the best tool to use. Your mileage may vary but I'd be using either a CTL or a small dozer. I'd be more afraid of rolling over backwards than a runaway. And yes I've sat my SS on its tail, not fun.