GC parking brake popped out! Damage pics.

[ray66v]

What happened to me once and what I speculate happened is you did not get the latch fully engaged. I think you may have engaged the latch enough to grab the pedal tab with perhaps the rounded portion of a tooth on the latch.

The loud click you heard was the pedal tab slipping off the rounded portion of the tooth and the brake pedal releasing.

I speculate you are correct.

If the braking system did not suffer a catastrophic failure, this is a reasonable explanation.

A major contributing factor was the increased forces against that partially engaged pawl, brought on by parking on a fairly steep incline.

A quick reading from the book of Fergueson, does stipulate: "When dismounting the machine for any reason", {operator}"MUST always lower all attachments, and implements to the ground", among other things. Now, we know another reason why. Although in this case, it should seem to be a very good idea to do so, without any prompting.

This does not diminish the fact that the parking brake seems to have a design defect, which allows it to be partially engaged.

 

[dcyrilc]

I am going to mention it to them, all I have are hills around here.

And yes the bucket was about 2-3" above the ground, just raised up to move forward, set the brake and got off to inspect the digging I just did and then went to get insecticide. The brake should hold if it was not moving all that time. As I came around the house I heard a loud click, then it started rolling. So if the weight of the tractor is too much to hold, there in lies the problem. I attached the picture of the grade I was on, the bucket did take a small chunk of turf too, and a small tree with it, you can see from the pic attached, but neither slowed it down. As for the FEL being down, if it was not attached, the tractor would have done the same thing, except, with a worse outcome. So FEL or not it should hold. Lesson learned, I will never trust it again. If the parking brake should not be used on inclines, it should be indicated so. If it holds the machine on the incline, then releases on its own, there is a problem.

Wacky,
Sorry to hear about the tractor, but that said...there's no way I would have got off the tractor on that slope without having the bucket firmly on the ground and both outriggers supporting the machine.

Again, sorry for the tough luck. Keep us posted on how everything comes out on getting repairs done. Also, let us know what the dealer has to say about the brake not holding.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Man, thats too bad the brake let out like that. Is your tractor still under warranty? That FEL looks like its in pretty bad shape, I would replace it.

 

[dcyrilc]

Man, thats too bad the brake let out like that. Is your tractor still under warranty? That FEL looks like its in pretty bad shape, I would replace it.

The warranty probably won't cover that unless the parking brake can be proven to be faulty. Even then, repairing the FEL would be questionable under warranty because warranties cover the defective part, not damages caused because of that part. That's what insurance is for.

 

[cdaigle430]

Here I go again...

Looks like the FEL heroically saved the rest of the tractor, MMM and backhoe. Did you have the 0% finance option with the mandatory insurance? I'm curious to see if this will cover it as the dealer stated to me.When the insuranc epays for it, see if you can keep the old for parts That would mean 4 extra hydralics pistons to play around with.

 

[Wacky]

I don't anticipate any warranty coverage. The brake seems fine. Like was said the e-brake must have been only "partially" set, which I think should not be able to happen. Never the less, the damage is done and it will be my word against theirs. So I have the 0% financing but opted for my own insurance, which I hope will cover all repairs. I did notice today that the front of the mower is angled down, I don't think it was before. The main front mower-mount bracket that is welded to the frame is slightly bent. But all the FEL brackets are twisted, not able to remove the FEL, it is in a nasty bind as you can see. I think the brackets that travel along the frame in the rear are okay. But the hydraulic lines are all bent and one of the hoses got pinched between the bumper and the FEL. The hood is not easily repaired, needs replaced also and the FEL is rammed against the joystick control box. The front MMM mount bracket that comes off, may be bent also, can't tell the MMM runs but have not attempted to lower. Have to remove BH to do that and right now I am not in the mood to mess with it anymore. There is a brace around the flywheel which looks like it hit the frame when it all happened, but it looks just like the other side except the paint being scuffed off. Other than that, looks okay, no leaks and the FEL will move to a certain extent.:mur::mur::mur::mur::mur::mur:

 

[dcyrilc]

I don't anticipate any warranty coverage. The brake seems fine. Like was said the e-brake must have been only "partially" set, which I think should not be able to happen. Never the less, the damage is done and it will be my word against theirs. So I have the 0% financing but opted for my own insurance, which I hope will cover all repairs. I did notice today that the front of the mower is angled down, I don't think it was before. The main front mower-mount bracket that is welded to the frame is slightly bent. But all the FEL brackets are twisted, not able to remove the FEL, it is in a nasty bind as you can see. I think the brackets that travel along the frame in the rear are okay. But the hydraulic lines are all bent and one of the hoses got pinched between the bumper and the FEL. The hood is not easily repaired, needs replaced also and the FEL is rammed against the joystick control box. The front MMM mount bracket that comes off, may be bent also, can't tell the MMM runs but have not attempted to lower. Have to remove BH to do that and right now I am not in the mood to mess with it anymore. There is a brace around the flywheel which looks like it hit the frame when it all happened, but it looks just like the other side except the paint being scuffed off. Other than that, looks okay, no leaks and the FEL will move to a certain extent.:mur::mur::mur::mur::mur::mur:

Again, OUCH! Here's hoping that the insurance is good.

 

[Don87]

i think part of the problem with the e-brake, is that it relies on the machine brake - which is not very good to begin with.

i have run into many situations where judicious application of one or the other of the hydrostatic pedals was required (on top of heavy brake application) to prevent the machine from rolling away.

I ran into the same situation. I have a small topsoil pile, about 3 feet high....
I purposely took the front of my tractor up to the top of it, (with a small load in the bucket) just to see what would happen.......kind of a 'contolled experiment'.
Mine failed miserably......full down-pressure on the brake wouldn't hold the tractor, had to apply forward pedal to keep the tractor from drifting backwards.....keep in mind that this was a 75 drgreee angle at least, but the brake wouldn't hold when fully depressed.


Don


P.S. Im a firm believer in testing equipment, to the full extent in 'kind of controlled environments when possible'.
Ya kinda learn this stuff when logging in the north.

 

[tsteahr]

With this discussion of parking brakes, it is worth noting the brake adjustment for free play. I had to adjust mine at about 30 hours when I noticed I was able to bottom out the pedal travel with a hard press. The manual calls for 7/8 to 1 1/8 inch free play at the pedal. That is a pretty tight pedal if you actually get on the tractor and measure it. Also check that tension is applied evenly to both brake rods. I set mine closer to the 7/8 in range. I haven't noticed being able to bottom out the brake pedal after making the adjustment.

The brakes are none to strong so it seems worth making sure they are in proper adjustment to maximize their effectiveness.

My 2 cents for what it's worth...

 

[mustangsallysdad]

Well, personal opinion here...the park brake should be a seperate, mechanical system totally independent of the tractor's service brakes which are marginal at best. A simple, effective and relatively inexpensive method of doing this would be a small driveshaft mounted rotor and caliper...it's not rocket science, and Massey (and others) should weigh the pros and cons of cost vs. operator safety. I think most of us would be more than happy to pay an extra $100 on a $20K machine that can provide an expected level of safety...we shouldn't be expected to have to overthink something as simple as engaging a park brake.