Kubota Break Problem

[Doxy]

I first have to admit that this problem is completely my fault. I burnt the breaks on my BX2350. While using a box blade to pull dirt away from a ditch, I accidentally put my foot on the parking break set on the footboard while looking back at my box blade. I had pressed the brake peddel in to keep from rolling back into the ditch. After moving away from the ditch in 4 wheel drive and low range, I continued to pull the dirt further away with the emergency break set. By the time I smelled the "hot" breaks, it was too late.

My question is this, can I damage my tractor by running it in this condition? I have 5 acres and this is the only time I have needed the breaks in over 200 hours of owning it. The breaks will grab a little but I think I have burnt most of the pads off.

Thanks in advance.

 

[milkman]

How long did you work with the brake on? Don't feel too bad, bunch of us have done that. The brakes on the BXs are wet brakes and it takes a LOT to get them hot, I don't remember ever reading on TBN that anyone has damaged the brakes on their BX to any extent by doing this. Are you sure what you smelled was hot brakes, if you think so, check the color of the hydro fluid on the dipstick, if it's been hot it will probably be dark enough to show, mine is always so clear it's hard to see on the dipstick.

 

[parkerbdlght]

Try adjusting them

 

[dirtworksequip]

Milkman, are those a wet disk brake that is cooled by the hyd fluid?

Doxy, if they are a wet disk and cooled by the hydraulic oil I would get the brakes fixed and change the hyd. oil before running the tractor anymore. If you continue to run the tractor the brake lining material will go all thru your hyd system and could cause future machanical problems.

Wet disk brakes should last the life of the tractor. I know that doesn't make you feel any better.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[milkman]

Doxy, I hope you don't get scared to death by a bunch of "the sky is falling" responses, the brakes on the BX will not throw you over the steering wheel type of brakes in the first place so just shorten the one brake rod on the pedal under the floor if it need it. Pull the dipstick and look at the fluid, if it is clear and not contaminated you'll be fine. If you're still uncomfortable with it, get some new SUDT and a new kubota hydro filter and change the hydro fluid and the tractor will be good for at least another 9800 hrs.

 

[dirtworksequip]

Milkman, I wasn't trying to scare Doxy. Just trying to arm him with some info. Am I wrong the the brake lining material could cause damage to the rest of the hyd. system? Or is it not a potential problem?

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[milkman]

I wouldn't want to operate the tractor with brake material in the hydro fluid either, that's why I said look at the fluid on the dipstick to see if it is contaminated. If there is anything in the fluid, it is filtered before it goes through the pump so it won't get into the hydro drive pump and motor. If it shows any contaminants in the fluid then get new SUDT and a new kubota hydro filter and change it. As far as burning up anything or fatally damaging his tractor, I seriously doubt that, I have discovered my brake on after mowing for quite a while and haven't even had to adjust the brakes afterward.

 

[dirtworksequip]

Milkman, I was just going by the 50 & 100 ton CAT trucks I've been around that have had the wet disk brakes burnt and the brake material ended up taking out all the hyd cylinders and pump because it was all from a common hyd tank. Even though it was filtered it didn't make a differenc. Wet disks brakes will take thousands of hours of use and a great deal of abuse, but it seemed once they were burnt it ment big problems with the rest of the hyd system.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[dfkrug]

Milkman, I was just going by the 50 & 100 ton CAT trucks I've been around that have had the wet disk brakes burnt and the brake material ended up taking out all the hyd cylinders and pump because it was all from a common hyd tank. Even though it was filtered it didn't make a differenc. Wet disks brakes will take thousands of hours of use and a great deal of abuse, but it seemed once they were burnt it ment big problems with the rest of the hyd system.

Interesting. DIRT, how do you suppose the wet brake friction disk material
got past the hyd filter(s)?

All of us with CUTs have forgotten and left the parking brake on at one time
or another. The minor wear of the brake material should be filtered out.
When I rebuilt my B21, which had nearly 2500 hours on it, I measured the
brake disk thicknesses and they were about what the manual quoted...
virtually no wear.

 

[dirtworksequip]

drkrug, you know I really never thought about how the brake lining material got through the hyd filter. It was just a "given" that if you smelled someones brakes, you could bet it wouldn't be long before their truck was in the bone yard getting tore down by the mechanics. I'm not working right now but as soon as I get a chance I'll ask one of the mechanics about how the contamination got thru to the other hyd components.
In 30 years I've seen it happen only about 5 or 6 times. Once on a brand new out of the box 773 Cat 50 ton. It was driven by an unexperienced driver and the brakes were cooked in about a week. Cat came in and tore the whole hyd system apart and replaced the pump and flused out the dump cylinders,hyd lines and tank. Took two mechanics about a week and a half. The wet disk brakes can take a lot of abuse but only up to a certain point. Once you start to smell them getting hot, their done. I can only surmize that the contaminates get ground up small enough to flow though with the oil and not get filtered out and are abrasive enough to take out a hyd pump or other components.

The best one was we had some new 50 ton Cat trucks on a job that was a long steep grade. The newer trucks are really "sweet" auto retarders, automatic load counters and scale. Which keep track of total cycles,individual load tonage and total tonage. All the latest upgrades for that time. One driver was always running one or two gears too high down this long grade and each trip his brakes were getting hot. He was depending totally on the brakes to slow him down and not using the engine,transmission or auto retarder. I knew they were hot each trip because in second gear my brake oil temp gauge was running up fairly close to the red. One gear higher would put it in the red every trip for sure. About two weeks into the job his truck shut itself down because it had so many hot brake oil faults log on the computer. All that time he thought that hot smell of his brakes was the new paint burning off.

Of course back then 50 ton Cat trucks were only selling for $420,000 new. That was in 92'. They are closer to $800,000 now if not more.
Sincerely, Dirt