Improving Parking Brake

[BobRip]

I really think the cable linkage is fine. It is two problems...

1. The pins lock in place with pressure from the weight of the tractor if it rolls forward or backward on the pins, or is driven forward or backwards while the pins are engaged. This makes it hard to disengage the pins, as you have to drive the tractor back and forth a bit to get the pressure off the pins. You can accomplish the same thing by turning the steering wheel right and left as the wheels will roll when you turn the unit.

2. The brake lever is held by friction. If the friction is too tight, the lever is hard to move. If the friction is too lose, the lever won't hold the brakes disengaged, and they will engage while driving along.

I can deal with issue #1 and don't see it as a problem. #2, however, is a pain that I want to cure. I cannot get it adjusted to that happy point where the brakes will remain off AND the lever is easy to operate. That is why I am replacing it with a foot operated parking brake pedal from a car. The friction lever issue will be gone forever, as it is being replaced with a ratchet lever that requires no friction.

I hope it works out well.

My little bracket seems to address your item two. I am reasonably satisfied with the brake operation at this time. I will probably not make any additional changes other than to paint it.

 

[BobRip]

Attached is a picture of the painted dog. I sanded it and it did not turn out too bad.
I have been using this routinely and feel it is a very good improvement. I have not installed the spring, but I probably don't need it.
This is easy to build and easy to make the parking brake engage and disengage.

 

[MossRoad]

Looks nice. My parking brake mod has been put on hold due to too many activities that require dad's presence(Church, school, student government, softball, cheerleading, karate, quiz bowl, pet care and knee replacements). Oh, well. I'm pretty sure that in the big picture, raising children and watching out for the folks always trumps tractor mods...

 

[BobRip]

Moss, sound like you have your priorities right.

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah, but I still like to play once in a while.

 

[BobRip]

I thought I would bring this too the top. I have been using this for 8 years now and am very pleased with it.

 

[Poorman1234]

After reading the post above...These thoughts come to mind.

1) Use the brake as intended, when intended. This keeps you safe.

2) To do #1, the brake must be made easy to use.

I made the brake easy to use by making a simple tension control to keep the tension on the lever constant, while making it adjustable to the value desired. I removed their bolt, use a longer one that will accomodate two locked nuts and a newly added, 1/8" thick, slightly bent (about 1/4"), string-steel washer (also known as a wavy washer spring) inside the tractor frame. This makes torquing the bolt a direct function of rotation torque on the brake lever. The lever base and the tractor frame are your friction elements. This works no matter the weather as differential changes in the bolt, lever material, and tractor frame are small compared to the dimension able to be absorbed by the wavy washer spring.

Note: If your brake lever bolt is threaded into the tractor frame with a jamb nut on the inside, the wavy washer spring may be placed between the lever and the tractor frame for the same result.

Next, make their lever longer. Rather than a 6" straight lever, I welded on a additional length rod to make mine 12" long with an additional 6" for a 90 degree bend at the handle end. The handle lays flat across the tunnel when not in use and lays against the steering column when in use. Neither place interfers with getting on or off the tractor. The long handle makes for 2-finger operation as tension never changes due to the first mod and the more convenient placement make for easier use. I even reused the original rubber grip on my extended handle to keep a factory look.

I fought the probelms you describe for the first two years I had the tractor...constantly readjusting to get the brake tension loose enough to use, but tight enough not to move on its own. Since the modifications, I have not once needed to re-adjust the brake in more than seven years.

See Photo.