Can anyone give me some info on adjusting or repairing the brakes on my 450c foot breaks? They seem to be getting bad, having to push to the floor or sometimes pump the pedals. I always check the fluid levels and they stay good. I hear some people never use their brake pedals, but weren't they intendened to be used for stearing? Thanks for any info.
As far as adjusting the brakes there is an adjuster on the lever that the slave cylinder pushes up to apply the brakes. Check that the lever is moving when the brakes are applied. If it is then you just screw the adjuster down to tighten the brakes. As a rule you should not steer the machine with the brakes except for real fine turn corrections. The perferred way to steer is toHave both tracks in high speed and if you want to turn right put the right track in low speed. Or you can run bot tracks in low speed and put the left track in high to make the turn. This way you have power to both tracks and can push more of a load while making a turn. You can also pull the right track lever into neutral while in a push and the machine will turn gradualy to the right but you dont have much control over the speed of the turn and again have no power going to the right track. When you use the brakes to turnyou are also declutching the drive that you are braking. The 450C has dry brakes so if you use them to steer you will wear out the brakes fairly often. We have had to weld the pedals together for some of the operators to get them to steer with the track speed levers and not the brakes. Sounds a little extreme but it beats replacing the brakes every couple of hundred hours.
Goose: Done the same here those brakes were never made for turning hard. The only nice thing was if you toed the brake gently you declutched the one track. Some guys that did golf course work liked that feature. We use to call the bar across the dash the OMG bar. Because when brakes got worn you'd see guys grab that bar and pull it while stomping on a brake trying to make the machine turn. Which leads one to say Oh My God what is he trying to do.
Hi
Hi Goose , Trying to repair my brakes on a 1978 450 dozer , cannot get brake cover out although bolts are out , any advise Tx Ed