Taking things to a different perspective! Old farm tractors had narrow front ends or if they had wide fronts the new tractors even with four wheel drive turn tighter then they did! Now whats interesting is what has happened to tractors since then as far as design and changes in the way they are set up. Typically with a two wheel drive tractor the weight distribution is 25% front and 75% on the rears and these are the tractors nearly everyone used to brake steer!
With the four wheel drives things have changed as the front tires got bigger and heavier and we added drive to the front axle. With no loader the balance is 40% on the front and 60% on the rear to allow the front to have some traction to assist the rears with the movement of the tractor and load. When a loader is installed it goes even further often with the weight of the loader and the load where 60% plus of the load might be on the front axle!!! Some manufacturers have built the fronts to withstand this load but amazing enough that for some tractors the weight of the loader and only half of a bucket full of dirt you have already exceeded the limit of the front axle, this is a different topic all together but those tractors are out there!!!
For those that choose to use the brakes when you have such loads on the front it is normally not during the warrantee period we see these tractors, it is five, six years or more that you start to pay! Tie rod ends, drive axle pivots and other repairs come in from the sliding of the front axle assembly while being at it's max load limits take their toll!
I do not recommend brake steer at all normally for the years that I have watched it I have seen the additional costs out of the owners pocket and I probably should not tell you to do as it is your business and it does help mine!! Thanks!
