ehydro steering brakes?

dirtworksequip · Feb 14, 2007

Has anyone been in a situtation where they needed to use the steering brakes on their JD ehydro? I was trying to cut off an ice coating on a blacktop road today with the 390 front blade on my JD3520 and breifly tried to steer with the left brake because I had the front tires slightly off the pavement to get the max down pressure on the cutting edge and the steering brake didn't seem to be too effective at helping to steer me to the left. The only other time I used the steering brake was hen I just tested it in my yard and it seemed not to work very well in 2 wheel drive,but did OK in 4 wheel drive with the front wheels pulling to make the turn. Anyone else have similar experience with the individual brakes?

Toolguy · Feb 14, 2007

Steering brakes work best when pulling a load from the drawbar. The leverage factor from pushing something with the FEL is a lot to overcome by braking one rear wheel. I have tried to do what you are describing. It does help a little but not much. I think the best thing you can do is stop going forward, lift the bucket until the wheels are back on the ground, backup and turn the front of the tractor towards the direction you want to go and start over again. I have the same problem when I am scraping ice off of my driveway. The outer edge of the driveway has more ice then the middle. As I go forward with the bucket tilted down and down pressure applied it tends to go towards the outside where the ice is thicker.

RalphVa · Feb 15, 2007

I don't have ehydro, but I think the brakes still work non-e. When pushing snow with the FEL or with the BB going backwards, I sometimes lose direction control with the steering. Applying the proper brake will steer it (weird going backwards; have to apply the opposite one).

It's the ONLY way to steer if you've applied down pressure with the FEL and have taken the front wheels slightly off the ground. Even with the FEL on float, the front wheels occasionally hit a slick spot. Hitting a brake in the direction you want to go makes it go that way. True, if there's too much of a load in front or if the rears don't have that good traction, hitting a brake may not be as effective.

Ralph

dirtworksequip · Feb 15, 2007

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm going to play around a little bit with them today to see just what they will and will not do. I know on my old JD 870 geared tractor they worked the way I expected them too. No matter if it was in 2 wheel or 4 wheel drive. I've had a front flat tire on the 870 and ran it in reverse for a 1/2 mile with the front bucket on the ground to lift the flat tire off the ground and steering it all the way home with the split brakes.From what I've seen the ehydro isn't going to do that. I'm not that impressed with the brakes on the ehydro 3520 not that you need them for anything.The holding power of the parking brake is lacking for sure.

Matthew_H · Feb 15, 2007

Here is a question, What are steering brakes? I have a 3203, same frame size as the 3520 but my dealer didn't tell me anything about steering brakes. Possibly the economy model 3203 doesn't have them?

Matt

dirtworksequip · Feb 15, 2007

Mathew, if you look at your brake pedals and there is a piece of metal the is on a pin so that you can swing it up and that seperates the two pedals so they can be worked seperately. Hence stepping on one or the other and locking up one wheel cause the tractor to skid steer and turn sharper.

dirtworksequip · Feb 15, 2007

I tried the steering brakes on my 3520 and the right side is way better than the left. Also on the snow the steering brakes where ineffective in 2 wheel drive because the opposite side just spun,but they worked OK in 4 wheel drive. The left brake pedal went clear to the floor when depressed and didn't have near the holding power as the right side. Is this the way all of them are or is it just my tractor? I guess now I have to try and test drive one at the dealer.

_M_ · Feb 15, 2007

3320 here with ehydro. My brakes work fine. When used independently for steering, both pedals (compared to each other) travel about the same distance, have the same resistance, and have the same amount of braking force. I can lock either wheel if I press hard enough. Of course this is not the case if the differential lock is engaged. In my experience (I'm in 4wd 99% of the time) using the brakes to turn more sharply is effective and I use it, mainly to miss bumping into something like a tree while in the woods and the spacing is tight. Like I said, I can lock up either tire if I want to. However, dragging a locked tire does not help turn as much as letting it roll (kind of like ABS stops you faster than a locked wheel). In some cases, if the soil I'm on is loose, and I'm on a slope and trying to brake the uphill wheel (less weight on the uphill wheel), there may not be enough traction (I have the large R4 tires) to do much additional steering. I have not yet found a case where it hasn't helped at all though, and usually it's quite effective.

When driving at high speeds it's suggested to keep the brakes tied together.

dirtworksequip: Sounds like something is wrong with your left brake. I can't press either brake pedal to the floor.

My Parking brake holds well too. Have had it in neutral on a steep hill and the tractor stays put.

SPYDERLK · Feb 15, 2007

dirtworksequip said:
I tried the steering brakes on my 3520 and the right side is way better than the left. Also on the snow the steering brakes where ineffective in 2 wheel drive because the opposite side just spun,but they worked OK in 4 wheel drive. The left brake pedal went clear to the floor when depressed and didn't have near the holding power as the right side. Is this the way all of them are or is it just my tractor? I guess now I have to try and test drive one at the dealer.

Check out that left brake. Do you normally keep the brake pedals locked together? If so they should wear evenly, so your situation puzzles me. ~~ Maybe they have always been adjusted differently, and since the pedals were locked you just didnt notice. If this has been the case the one doing the work is well seated in, while the other is almost totally unworn and hence not seated. This would make its action less efficient, and just might fit the whole scenario you sketched.

Also, the independent brakes will work better for steering if you set your rears out. Better leverage.
Larry

dirtworksequip · Feb 15, 2007

Thanks for the input. I'll have to check out the linkage and adjustment of the left side. Thats the first time I really messed with the brakes split. I normally run with the pedals locked together. We had some freezing rain and I was trying to cut the thick ice off some blacktop and the steering brakes would have come in handy. Very rarely did I ever use them on my old JD870 except to get the front end up hill in wet muddy conditions. Thanks again.

JasonMac · Feb 16, 2007

I use my steering brakes a lot! My front tires are off the ground most of the time when I'm peeling packed down snow. You do have to press the brake very firmly, and you have to really give it a good step on the hydro for it to work effectively.

Matthew_H · Feb 27, 2007

dirtworksequip said:
Mathew, if you look at your brake pedals and there is a piece of metal the is on a pin so that you can swing it up and that seperates the two pedals so they can be worked seperately. Hence stepping on one or the other and locking up one wheel cause the tractor to skid steer and turn sharper.

O.K., been a while since I've checked this thread. I guess the 3203, economy model, doesn't have steering brakes. There is only one brake pedal, no split pedals. Hasn't posed a problem yet though, so i wion't worry about it.
Thanks

AKfish · Feb 28, 2007

Whoa... I guess not having split brake controls is possible on a tractor. But that's not any configuration that I've ever seen --- even on old antique tractors.

Maybe some other 3203 owner's or a dealer could clue me in why Deere would engineer such a thing on a new model tractor!?!

AKfish

Sweats62 · Mar 2, 2007

I can see where split brakes can be invaluable for ag uses but we've long since entered a day and age where Mr Joe property owner had found a use for something more substantial than a garden tractor for property management without needing an ag machine. Isn't that what drove the market for the CUT in the first place? I will readily admit I could be dead wrong on this account but it seems to me that features like split brakes might not be critical for utility applications. DISCLAIMER: I haven't operated an ag tractor in over thirty years and even then had only limited experience using split brakes.

kennyd · Mar 3, 2007

Sweats,
The split brakes are real handy when there is little traction, like plowing snow or driving through mud, while not "critical" to have, I find I use them quite frequently.
They aren't just for turning on a dime at the end of a crop row.

Oh, And WELCOME to TBN

radman1 · Mar 3, 2007

Used the split brakes yesterday on JD 3720 moving snow with blade. Deep snow was redirecting tractor into the snow banks. I was wishing I had the 40x0 series but the tractor did ok. Brakes worked fine and actually very helpful if I responed quickly to prevent getting pulled into the snow. I have a Landpride 4096 8' blade which is a lot more blade than tractor can handle but works great unless deep snow.

AKfish · Mar 4, 2007

Just came in the house after cleaning the horse corral. I've got a JD 7' rear blade with an ice cutting blade from a road maintainer (grader) and 150lbs of railroad steel on top for weight.
It gets pretty chilly up here and those horse nuggets are hard enough to be used as deadly weapons! Been cold up here for 2 solid weeks (-12 this morning) and the corral is frozen, frozen. So, it takes some work to chip and scrape all that fertilizer loose.
Nonetheless, even with chains all around and in 4x4, the front end wanders around on the hard packed snow and ice. Steering control is not very precise... to say the least.
So, when I clear along the steel fence panels, I coax the tractor around the circle with a bit of nudging on the inside brake.
I can only imagine what shape my corral might be in after a few winters of having a brake setup that might be considered "unidirectional".

AKfish

JB4310 · Mar 4, 2007

Seems like everyone is using the skid steer method for the same thing, to get extra control when clearing snow and ice, that's the only time I really need mine, it's not gonna spin you around like a bobcat but it does help, for major adjustments you have to do what toolguy said, stop reverse with wheels cut until you're pointing in the right direction and proceed, with ehydro it's effortless.
I don't think ehydro would effect how your brake steering would work as opposed to other transmission options, but some one else will know more about the inner workings.