I posted this fall about brakes on our 94 WA 180 The brake res is still emptying itself in one of the diff housings. No external leaks anywhere. Yesterday when plowing, the operator told me he was losing power in 3rd gear and also second. After moving around in 1st for a bit he would be able to use the other gears again. I jumped in it and started driving. Would move no problems then all of a sudden it would slow down and barely crawl in 3rd or 2nd. I put it on a hill and when it did it again i put it in neutral and sat there and did not roll at all. I Pumped the brake pedal down slowly and when I released I would start free rolling The brakes are coming on bythemselves and have no idea where to start.
Air pressure I dont know much about these machines, but i own 3 loaders all of which have a low air lockup system on them. When the air pressure gets below a certain psi, the brakes automatically engage. check for this to make sure it isnt the problem, it sounds like your losing air and the brakes are coming on.
Appreciate the response but this loader does not have an air brake setup. Hydraulic brakes with wet disks in the differentials
Also the vent hose under the booster to the trans is not clogged. All pedal linkage is not bound up at the booster or in the cab and adjusted all the way up
Your brake friction plates could be worn down and starting to bind, if so you will want to look in there soon as it will ruin your pressure plate and back up plate!
There are return springs on the brake pistons that pull the pistons off the disks when you let off the brake. As I recall there are three springs per piston and I've seen one or two break which causes the symptoms you are describing. Brake chatter is usually the reason I thought was causing the springs to fail. That was caused by using 30 wt. engine oil in the axles instead of tractor hydraulic oil. The piston wedges at an angle and makes the disks bind on one side. If this is your problem you need to address quickly by doing a tear down and repair. As I recall there may also be slack adjuster pistons mounted on top of the axles. These were basically a piston with a spring that would only let the brake actuating piston come back so far. I have never seen one go bad but I suppose it is possible.