Brakes on kubota Bx25d

[Wilbur F]

Hi all. As a newbie to tractors I have a question regarding brakes on my kubota Bx25d tlb. I know the brakes are in the rear axle and they are wet brakes. I read somewhere that if the tractor is in 4 wheel drive there will be braking ability in the front. I asked a kubota dealer and they said it does not. The reason for my question is that I have a long hilled driveway and I have chains in the front. I wasn’t aware that there is a spacing kit for the rear axle and didn’t buy chains for the back. My concern is if it is icy in sections and I apply the brakes the back will lock up and I’ll slide down the hill.

Putting the bucket down and curled up a bit so as to not dig into my asphalt and tear it up my help Slow down or stop. Does anyone know if there is any braking in the front in 4 wheel drive?

 

[TractorTYMe]

If it is in 4wd, it will absolutely have some breaking capabilities on all 4 wheels. But being they are not locked diffs, it will be more like 3 wheel break. But definitely better than just RWD.

 

[Wilbur F]

Great. Thank you the reply.

 

[dodge man]

In 4 wheel drive you still have no physical brakes in front but you will absolutely have braking action in the front through the drive shaft. I suppose you could look at it as the Kubota dealer is technically correct but more likely he is just ignorant.

 

[Grandad4]

The"brakes" on a Kubota BX are really parking brakes more than something you use to slow down or control hill descent. You use the "go pedal" for that as it fully controls the rotation of the tires, or the lack thereof. As Dodgeman says, when you have 4wd engaged, that lets you go safely down a slope. I used my BX on hills for many years and can't recall ever using the brake to slow down. The HST pedal does that job very nicely.

 

[Wilbur F]

In 4 wheel drive you still have no physical brakes in front but you will absolutely have braking action in the front through the drive shaft. I suppose you could look at it as the Kubota dealer is technically correct but more likely he is just ignorant.

The"brakes" on a Kubota BX are really parking brakes more than something you use to slow down or control hill descent. You use the "go pedal" for that as it fully controls the rotation of the tires, or the lack thereof. As Dodgeman says, when you have 4wd engaged, that lets you go safely down a slope. I used my BX on hills for many years and can't recall ever using the brake to slow down. The HST pedal does that job very nicely.

Thank you dodge man and grandad4 for the replies. Will the hst then stop the tractor from sliding on any ice. In essence allowing the chains on the front tires to bite into the ice. Sorry for being such a noob with this but I haven’t experienced a winter on our driveway yet as we just moved in.

 

[m1garand762]

Thank you dodge man and grandad4 for the replies. Will the hst then stop the tractor from sliding on any ice. In essence allowing the chains on the front tires to bite into the ice. Sorry for being such a noob with this but I haven’t experienced a winter on our driveway yet as we just moved in.

Nothing will stop you sliding on ice, except for a good solid object in your way

 

[Grandad4]

As long as you have it in 4wd, the chains will give you some control on an icy hill. How much control depends on the front/back weight distribution of your particular setup. More weight (loader, for example), up front would give more traction to the front tires; leaving the backhoe in back would work against you with front chains.

Note: this setup is exactly backwards of the way your BX is designed to operate, which is using the rear tires to put most of the power to the ground and the fronts to give additional traction when needed. Hence the large rear tires vs. itty bitty fronts. Your setup will be working the front axle very hard and with time there will be a price to be paid of some sort. If it were my tractor, I would be taking the time to obtain a proper setup to give the rear wheels adequate traction for the working conditions.

 

[Wilbur F]

After deliberating the options I bought rear wheel spacers and chains for the back. I’ll leave the front on for steering. I removed the backhoe as I have a spreader for sand.
I appreciate all your advice. Have a safe winter.

 

[Grandad4]

Good plan. Now you can consider adding liquid ballast in the rear tires. When the spreader is empty you will probably be light in back.

After a while you should acquire a sense of the weight and balance of things. But even then be cautious rather than bold! Even a little tractor has a few dozen ways it can kill or maim a careless operator.