There's good news and bad news but hopefully the bad news isn't that bad. I followed Bob/Ont's advice on adjusting the brakes on my 931B. On the left side I shortened the brake rod quite a bit to get the pin in with the brake band tight. Then I turned the brake band adjuster out 4 turns to get about 3 3/8" pedal travel measuring from the firewall to the lever. Then I went to do the same on the right side and had to extend the brake rod to get the pin in. I thought something was really messed up with the linkage under the dash(they weren't the same) but then noticed the lever on the clutch cover where the brake rod goes was quite a bit further back than on the left side. I loosened the brake band about the same as other side and have close to the same pedal travel. It was kind of cold but I hooked up the aux. hoses for the backhoe and filled the hyd. tank. I started it up to see how everything worked. It's like a new machine and I didn't see any leaks. Steering clutches are working properly and the brakes need very light pressure to make it turn. Here's the questions I have: Does it matter if the linkage is different from one side to the other but the pedal travel/free play on the brake band is approx. the same? I'm not sure how tight the springs pushing on the brake adjusters are. They put new ones in with the new brake pins except gave them to me after I had already taken the bands to get relined so there was no way to rivet them on. Are the brake adjusters known to vibrate out of position? If they are, I was thinking of something simple to stop them from turning like maybe gluing a piece of foam rubber on the cover plate to put some pressure on them and still allow them to move a little when the brakes are applied? Any other simple ideas to keep the brake adjusters from turning?
Hi welder dave, I know that getting the pedal right may take more than one or three times
Thanks Sam, I got an e-mail from Bob and he said it sounds good if I have free play and the brakes aren't dragging. He thinks who ever took it apart in the past didn't assemble the lever and linkage on one of the "humps" correctly. If I went by the Cat procedure of measuring all the rods and setting up all the linkages, I'd be there forever when one side is so much different than the other. Bob's advice to have all the free play in the brake band and not in the linkage made sense to a mechanic friend as well. Cat say's to back off brake adjuster 2 1/2 turns and I'm at about 4 turns so I think it will be good. I'm hoping to find out next weekend as I want to start digging sand from neighbors back field about 1/2 a mile away. Yah, I guess with wet clutches you have to be real careful to not have any drag or it will chew up the drums. What a difference in steering though with everything working properly. It steers on dirt like it used to steer on frozen ground back when it kind of worked right. I'm even more amazed I got it all back together and didn't see any leaks or have a bunch of extra bolts laying around. LoL Kind of a pain trying to get all the holes lined up when putting the sheet metal and covers back on. I don't know how things get so out of whack. 5 holes are lined up perfect and the 6th is off by a 1/4". I finished getting it back together today in the cold (4 deg's. C). I even got the backhoe installed so I'm a little excited to try it out. If it keeps working like it did it my try out, I'm thinking of making a cab for it so I can work more comfortably in the fall or winter. I need to clear some trees in soft spots so need a few inches of frost so I don't sink.
Hi Dave, sounds like you have it working good, i have adjusted mine a couple times, and think i need to fine tune the left pedal a bit. If its not working good then it will work your legs hard, the new brake takes a little to seat in, sorta like the old cars back in the day. have fun, sam. PS, you should be able to fill the adjustment rod click in place as you adjust the rod, that keeps it from moving.
It's hard to tell but that could be because it was painted. I'll pay attention to see if the pedal movement changes.