Brakes Won't Adjust Properly - Already Un-siezed 'pins' and cleaned linkage.

TylerFrankel1

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  • / Brakes Won't Adjust Properly - Already Un-siezed 'pins' and cleaned linkage.
Hey everyone! I'm still working on this Troy-Bilt Bronco 13aj609g766. I got it free a while back and I've made some posts on it. It's been running pretty good after replacing belts, oil gasket, gapping valves, etc. I had some drive belt troubles where it wasn't pulling hills but I think I sorted it out. I inspected the drive and transaxle and variable speed pulleys and they all were pretty shiny and smooth where the belt goes, so I think they were glazed. I could even see the reflection of the ground in one. I sanded them with coarse sand paper and put it back together and it went up the hills again no problem. Only other variable that could affect my results from before and after the sanding is that when I noticed trouble the first time I had been running the machine for a couple hours and after the fix I tested it after it had been on for only about 20 minutes, so heat might come into play, but I think 20 minutes of continuous driving is enough to warm everything up.

Anyway, the brakes have never worked right and it's almost killed me a couple times now so I want to sort it out. When I got it at first the brake rods that push the pad into the disk (mounted on the gearbox) were siezed. I unsiezed them so they could actually push the brake pad on and cause friction. But I can't adjust it right. If I tighten the adjustment nut about 1/8 turn too much the mower constantly rides/grinds the brakes and locks up in reverse, but if it's much looser the brakes are too weak to hold the tractor still on inclines. Additionally the parking brake mechanism won't stay engaged for more than a few seconds, but I think that's a different issue. Does anyone have experience with this issue? Is my linkage not pulling enough or is the tiny brake pad junk?
 

bertsmobile1

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  • / Brakes Won't Adjust Properly - Already Un-siezed 'pins' and cleaned linkage.
pads are cheap so replace them
Note these is always a shim behind the inner one
There are 2 adjustments for the brake
On is the nut on the center arm the other is on the rod that pulls that arm.
Just a note hesr.
The brake works on the layshaft in the box so it locks the diff
Thus one wheel can only go forwards & the other can only go backwards so it is a sudden death brake, you can not adjust it for a smooth soft braking.
The parking brake simply locks the clutch brake pedal in the down position.
 

Hammermechanicman

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  • / Brakes Won't Adjust Properly - Already Un-siezed 'pins' and cleaned linkage.
Check that the brake disk is not seized on the shaft. It should slide on the shaft. Replace the brake shoes and like bert said don't loose the shim. That brake system is just adequate at best. If you can't get new shoes you can make a couple shims from a hacksaw blade to shim the shoes to compensate for wear. If the shoes have been exposed to oil they are toast.
 

TylerFrankel1

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  • / Brakes Won't Adjust Properly - Already Un-siezed 'pins' and cleaned linkage.
pads are cheap so replace them
Note these is always a shim behind the inner one
There are 2 adjustments for the brake
On is the nut on the center arm the other is on the rod that pulls that arm.
Just a note hesr.
The brake works on the layshaft in the box so it locks the diff
Thus one wheel can only go forwards & the other can only go backwards so it is a sudden death brake, you can not adjust it for a smooth soft braking.
The parking brake simply locks the clutch brake pedal in the down position.
I took apart the thing again tonight. The shim was still there. The shoes were worn down/I could see about 1/16 inches worn off. The brake rotor is not siezed. The pad behind it is stuck and I can’t get it out. I sprayed it with some penetrating fluid so it hopefully works loose soon. I leveled out and scuffed up the pads as best I could with some sand paper, and put it back together. Adjusted as best I could. They still aren’t great. I’ll probably be ordering new pads, but it makes sense what you’re saying about the wheels being spun opposite of each other because it makes a nasty grinding sound when the brakes are applied. It is adequate at very best, this seems like a brake they made as cheap as possible, I really am not a fan of it. I might see if I can redneck engineer something less crappy. Like, if I can attack a real rotor and caliper, or band brake, similar to on a go kart.
The parking brake seems to vibrate loose. When the mower is off it will stay engaged but when the engine is running it quickly disengages. I think my solution will be to not park on hills with the engine running.
 

TylerFrankel1

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  • / Brakes Won't Adjust Properly - Already Un-siezed 'pins' and cleaned linkage.
Almost forgot, Thanks for the help y’all!!
 

bertsmobile1

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  • / Brakes Won't Adjust Properly - Already Un-siezed 'pins' and cleaned linkage.
Cheap & nasty without any doubt
Goes back to what the public want & they want cheap so cheap is what they get.
If you go back a few decades when people were not as greedy & selfish yoou will find mowers with proper brakes on them made by brands that went bankrupt because peopel would not pay a fair price for a mower.
You have to go to garden tractors or commercial mowers in the high price end before you will see real brakes.
Even then it was done stupidly
The brakes on a Great Dane are $ 60 ( Aus ) a side.
I modified an old Yamaha SR 500 brake shoe to fit as they are $ 15 a set .
Being made in the USA an imtelligent engineer would have made the drums the same size as a HD drum brake os they used a cheap standard & readily available part.

Locally made Cox & Greenfields still use a band brake on their variable drive models.
 

StarTech

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  • / Brakes Won't Adjust Properly - Already Un-siezed 'pins' and cleaned linkage.
I would say things are worn out and some parts needs replacing especially since this is a vintage 2005 mower. Personally I never had a problem with the MTD braking system when they working correctly and I have weighted as much 260 lbs which is a lot of weight to stop along with the mower weight going down hill. The braking does provide some soft braking action as the spring does gives somewhat.

The most common failure of the MTD and Peerless brakes is stuck pins and worn brake pads. Many of the mower I work the brake hadn't worked in years so when the owners get them back they need to use to using the brakes again.

Back when I was a teenager (over 40 yrs ago) I did have a brake system failure on a Craftsman mower where I went to stop in emergency and mower didn't. It resulted with me going over a four foot drop off. When I seen I wasn't stopping I just straighten up as to not to roll over, at least wasn't a complete sheer drop but close to it. When I was trying to stop the brake held but the shaft at the transaxle sheered completely off. Once I got over the initial shock of the drop off I had to push that home over a half mile. Boy was I exhausted when I got home as it was uphill most of the way.
 

TylerFrankel1

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  • / Brakes Won't Adjust Properly - Already Un-siezed 'pins' and cleaned linkage.
I would say things are worn out and some parts needs replacing especially since this is a vintage 2005 mower. Personally I never had a problem with the MTD braking system when they working correctly and I have weighted as much 260 lbs which is a lot of weight to stop along with the mower weight going down hill. The braking does provide some soft braking action as the spring does gives somewhat.

The most common failure of the MTD and Peerless brakes is stuck pins and worn brake pads. Many of the mower I work the brake hadn't worked in years so when the owners get them back they need to use to using the brakes again.

Back when I was a teenager (over 40 yrs ago) I did have a brake system failure on a Craftsman mower where I went to stop in emergency and mower didn't. It resulted with me going over a four foot drop off. When I seen I wasn't stopping I just straighten up as to not to roll over, at least wasn't a complete sheer drop but close to it. When I was trying to stop the brake held but the shaft at the transaxle sheered completely off. Once I got over the initial shock of the drop off I had to push that home over a half mile. Boy was I exhausted when I got home as it was uphill most of the way.

Yikes! I had to push mine home almost a mile once because the drive belt broke when I was cutting.
I guess I should try replacing the pads. Hopefully I can get the rear one loose. That's all I can figure is wrong. I figure that if I ever have an emergency I can throw it in reverse, or forwards if I'm going backwards. It probably will chew up the transmission but better that than me killing somebody or myself. I guess the pads have to be better than just "rectangular and slightly rusty" to do a good job braking.
 

TylerFrankel1

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  • / Brakes Won't Adjust Properly - Already Un-siezed 'pins' and cleaned linkage.
I took the thing on a test drive today after working on the brakes last night in the dark. It's a little better. The tractor grinds to a stop within about 5 feet on a moderate slope. The brakes work much better, about as well as I want them to, in reverse.

I kinda stress tested my belts and pulleys a bit too since I was having those problems with slippage before. I took the tractor through dense Ivy about 40 feet long 6 times, up and down some short 20-30 degree hills, and up and down a ~15 degree hill several times. It had the bagger attached 1/2 full and me at 200 pounds. It did it quite well, but towards the end I think there may have been a little bit of slipping because I felt like there was some times where I lost a bit of speed - nothing terrible. After I was done I got off and felt the belts - they were both quite warm, not too hot to hold on to but not comfortable. Probably 60 Celsius or so. I could grab them and hold them though. I guess there was probably some slipping. So, I've probably just found the limitations of the machine. It probably shouldn't be used on slopes exceeding 15 degrees (safe limit) and it probably shouldn't drive through thick ivy carrying a load (Did I mention I was dragging trash bins behind me through the ivy?). This seems reasonable.

The brakes are probably good enough, because they can stop me within 5 feet. I wish they were stronger in case I needed to stop within say a foot, if something jumped in front of me somehow, but I guess these brakes aren't meant for that. The parking brake will get attention at a later date. For now I just make sure I park it in a way that it can't roll and leave it in gear.
 
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