John Deere M putt-putt, cluch, right brake, & steering?

[psychonautbuddy]

I am reacquainting myself with this old tractor. I used to operate this JD-M back in high school, during the summers, along with Fordson, Case, Farmall, FM, and others, usually during the hay harvest, but logging too.

Recently, this JD-M just came back to me thru an estate sale, and I'm training my nephew on its operation. For the life of me, I can't recall what the reasoning is for having an independent RIGHT BRAKE, but not a left?

If I need to make a powered, brake-assisted turn to the right, no problem, but how is this done when turning to the left? The left brake is applied thru the combination clutch/brake pedal, but obviously, no engine power is available
during such a maneuver.

I'm guessing that since this tractor was built for row-cropping, the farmer must always start at the left of his field, if he wants to use the advantage of brake-turning to tighten it up at the end of each pass... ?

 

[DJ54]

Are there not 2 brake pedals on the right side, for L & R brakes..?? If the clutch pedal moves down when you apply the left brake, & vice versa, then things are galded up on the cross shaft the pedals pivot on.

 

[psychonautbuddy]

Sheesh, why didn't I think of that? Thanks! I'll look into that, although, it might take some doing to free things up. Maybe someone welded it...