transmission flywheel brake question

[Keith L]

The tubular button called a lining in the parts book on my project seem to be worn down enough that the actuation lever geometry isn't right. I'm talking about the brake that stops the trans clutch flywheel when the clutch is applied. My buttons are 3/4" in length. Does anyone know how long they are when new? I don't want to buy even more parts if I don't need them. You can still get them thru IH for $14 a piece.
Keith

[Bermuda Ken]

Brand new brake buttons (#404642R1) are 7/8" long. They are look kinda like the tip of a pool cue stick.

[Keith L]

Thanks Ken. I would have guessed they would have been about 1" long to make the operating tab push straighter on them. Sounds like mine at just over 3/4" might be ok.

[Bermuda Ken]

You should be able to get enough adjustment in the linkage to make up for the wear on the buttons.

[BigBill]

Its .010" clearance on the brake pucks to the flywheel and .090" clearance on the throwout brg to the clutch pressure plate fingers at the sametime when the clutch pedal is fully up. This puts the two in sync. My first int154 was way out of adjustment so the gears were grinding when i tried to shift it. Its been going on 3 years now and its still shifting and braking ok.

[Dave Hull]

All of the advice thus far is accurate...I would also evaluate all the moving parts- it doesn't take much wear in all the pivot pins and brackets to cause you many headches-constant adjustment needed! I have see other put a handle up thru the tonnel cover connected to the brake plate and manually apply brake pressure when the wear cannot be adjusted out.

[BigBill]

I think we also need to put a drop of oil at times on all the moving pivoting areas on the pins and arms were the swivels are to lube them so they don't wearout. We did this on the cars/light trucks when servicing them during the oil changes on the hood hinges, hood locks, door locks and door hinges so why not on our tractors so nothing will wearout? Maybe we need a small sqirt can with some honey thick stay were you put it lube like STP? Just two drops would do the trick...... I been thinking about this and the fix maybe to put an oil lite bronze bushing were we can too.

I think at this point in our tractors life we need to repair whats loose and keep it lubed so nothing wears out again. In the future this stuff is getting harder to find and whats out there isn't cheap too.

Now tell the truth how many of us use the clutch for a tractor brake too. I'm being honest i been lazy at times too, i have sinned. Not often but i have....

[Keith L]

I was at an IH dealer Saturday to pick up some Federal yellow paint and some other parts. He had the brake buttons in stock so I bought them. Now I see what the big difference is between 7/8" for new verses mine that were worn down to 3/4". That first 3/4" is plastic and the next 1/8" is the brake material. So when it wears down to 3/4" it's really rubbing on mostly plastic. Glad I bought the new ones.

[BigBill]

I wonder if the pucks can be faced off and new material added to them so they can be used again. I was thinking of adding some new brake material to them with epoxy. I have a box of brake material left over from brake tests we did.

I just picked up some glue for putting brake lining on the pads and brake shoes. I purchased two different glues. One is for smooth brake material and the other is for pourious brake material. I have both materials to glue.

[bookman51]

I have a Cub 154 that might need the brake buttons replaced. How hard is it to replace them? I am not seeing any directions in the service manual.

Thanks

Larry Hardesty

[oojimmyc]

O.K. I'm in...You guys have sparked a question from me now. Very good info on the brake buttons and adjustments. My quandry is; I just replaced the brake bands on my 154. It took some hard braking at first but I finally got the brakes broken in somewhat so that when I put the tractor in neutral with the clutch out it will roll somewhat freely. Problem is, when I'm driving the tractor and push in the clutch while still rolling at slow speeds (5mph) I also seem to be getting a braking action (not the brake pedal). It is more pronounced in reverse gear. It actually stops the tractor. It doesn't lock up the brakes or anything but surely has a braking action. Do you think the brake buttons are causing this braking action or the new bands? I can't seem to tell which is doing which. I hope I explained it well. If not, let me know and I'll try to elaborate even more. Thanks for any advice.
Jim

[BigBill]

I did notice the brake buttons can stop the tractor if we push the clutch pedal all the way down without touching the brake pedals. The flywheel brake will stop the tractor when we push the clutch pedal down but we will wear out the pucks sooner too if we continue to not push the brake pedal.

[oojimmyc]

Thanks Bill,
I thought that was the problem. I'll check out the adjustment again. I haven't readjusted anything since the bands and clutch were installed. I'll have to look up the procedures.

[BigBill]

When the clutch pedal is all the way up the flywheel brake pucks should have .010" clearance and the throwout bearing should have .090" clearance from the clutch fingers too at the sametime.

[oojimmyc]

Thanks Bill,
I'll check it out