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cleaning up disk brakes

C

Charlie M

Well-known Member
Got one side of the disk brakes off of my 300 U today. The peddle was going clear to the bottom so I suspected a broken spring and was right. Entire brake unit is full of rust and ground up brake disks. My question is how do I resurface all the brake areas. I asked NAPA a few years ago and they said they couldn't do that design. In addition I can't get the plate off of the tractor body side and don't dare to keep trying for fear of breaking it.

Maybe in the process some can tell me what the advantage of those older disk brakes are compared to the band brakes on my H and M. They don't seem to have any better braking power and seem to me to be a high maintenance pain in the neck.
 
You most likely need to replace the disks themselves as well. Any machine shop should be able to turn them for you, however if you need to machine the surface that mates to trans casting as well if you dont machine this then there will be too much free play in the brakes. AS for the advantage of them the have more square inch surface when compared to the band brake they replaced. The ball and ramp design also act as a basic form of a power brake. The down side to them is they tend to work well or not at all . Unlike the band brake where there is alot of grey area in there from good to bad.

Andrew
 
If you are talking about the steel surfaces, you can sandblast them. It will give them so much grabbing power and they will work like new. I learned this trick a few years ago and now everyone wants me to fix their disk brakes. You will be happy with the results.
If you are going to leave the tractor outside all of the time then you will never keep the disk brakes working. Silicon around the drums will help alot. The disk brakes will take a ton more heat then the old drum brakes and work better in both directions.
I have a 400 farmall that I grind feed with all the time, I travel 4 miles round trip everyday and I dont have a single problem with my disk brakes, you have to keep them out of the rain and under roof.
 
just went thru this on my 300u, don't get to nutty over the steel friction surfaces, just replace the disks, then take a wiz wheel and do your best with that on the steel. replace the broken return springs and lube yer balls real good with some never sieze. now most important is make sure those rubber dust boots that the shafts pass thru are there and if not replace them (steiner tractor sells them)or maybe even on this site. this will keep all the muck from getting in there. put everything together and do a rolling addjust with the rear raised. this is what i did with my 300U and i can now lock the wheels up going down hill, they work great and my metal surfaces were pretty poor!!....good luck.
 
Use the copper-based hi-temp never-seize. It won't gum up as fast. I did mine once a year when I used it regularly. The old SM sat outside all winter on the manure spreader and it's the only tractor I used to rake hay.
 
Three main parts in there. First the drum. SOme shops can turn them but not many. Or you can clean up the braking suface with a 40 grit flap wheel on an angle grinder, or sandblast. As someone else said you need to mill off about .100
outer edge to make up for wear on other parts.
Second, the actuating plates. Sandblast or sand on machine shop belt sander. I have an old sears 6 inch floor madel belt sander that does them and it's the most used tool in the shop
Third the friction discs. They can be dressed up on the table belt sander also. But a large size wood rasp held very flat can restore some pretty gnarly discs. Polish you balls with some fine emery paper, lube witnh either never seize or graphite. You ain't gonna like the price of the springs. (15 ea,)

Gordo
 
The disk brakes on my Super H were solid rust,mud, and grease. Beyond just cleaning up. After pricing all the parts needed and machine shop labor, I chose to send them to OEM's disc brake service. I fully expected a phone call saying these parts were too far gone. Never got that phone call and got the parts back in like new condition. Shipping was easy, I put everything in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and went to the UPS store. $26 to ship. At 1st glance OEM seems a little pricey but knowing what I know now I highly recommend them.
 
The plate on the side of the tractor is the bull pinion retainer, I believe, The seal and o-ring where leaking oil into the brakes so I had no choice but to remove them. I use 3 chisels and slowly tapped them in until it came out/off. 1st one took me an hour cause I didn't know what I was doing and didn't want to break it. The next one took a few minutes.
 
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