I have a TB 2246 riding tractor that, as of last week, does not have functioning brakes. I have looked over and the pads look fine and have adjusted the brakes; however, it still will not stop. Whenever i press on the brakes it apparently disengages the trans and causes the tractor to act as though it were in neutral...

HELP!!!!!

 

How did you adjust the brakes?

 

Power to the drive wheels must be removed before the brake is applied as the brake is mechanically powered by a pedal or lever. In addition the brake mechanism has to latch to keep the brake applied. There has to be adjustment for all 3 of these functions. You have not made all the adjustments. Check your manual.

 

@Beelzebob the manual states to take to a service technician for brake issues... I'd rather not do that if at all possible. Every search that I've done regarding brake issues on riding mowers typically show that there is an adjustment rod that has to nuts on it for the adjustment; however, mine does not have that. It's a hydrostatic drive if that makes a difference.

 

@Cheese I removed the brake caliper to make sure that the pads were good and that the "pistons" were moving freely. Upon doing so I noticed that the disc was extremely loose. The pads appear to have minimal wear so I seated them back in their housing and reapplied the caliper and tightened to make sure that the disc was not loose.
I've worked on car brakes before; however, i've never worked on riding mower brakes and I cannot seem to find much information pertaining to my particular tractor regarding this.

 

Did you tighten the disk?

 

@Wirepuller38 .... I did and it still is not working...

 

There should be a locking nut on the cam that engages the caliper. Tighten that a bit at a time until the pads lock down on the disc.

 

BFH is talking about the correct adjustment for this... many people try to adjust the nuts on the rods on mowers that have it but that's the wrong place to adjust. In between the two bolts that hold the brake on is where the nut that needs to be adjusted is. Turn it clockwise a few turns and see how it does, be careful to not adjust it so far that it is applying even with the brake off. It should take a 1/2" wrench.

 

I have a couple of those riding mowers with that mechanical disk brake; and I just adjusted them last weekend.

Both of mine have two(2) jam nuts on top of the caliper's cam lobe; and I tighten the inner jam nut down until the pads are just dragging on the disk.'

Then, while holding the inner nut in that position, I tighten the outer nut against the inner
nut . . . . and amazingly, they don't move on me.

These brakes don't "self-adjust", and that's okay with me. I only have to service them if I spend a lo of time riding the brake on a sloping hill next to some high speed traffic.

 

@BFHFIXIT, @CHEESE, I did that and it still is not grabbing. The wheels still turn. I'm running out of ideas here.

 

Is the lever moving when you hit the brake? If so, and it's pushing the pad out, then it's doing the job and if it isn't pushing the pad far enough, then the nut needs more tightening or the pad is worn so badly that it won't make contact anymore.

 

@cheese - thanks for the pointer there. looks like the pads are bit worse off than I originally suspected. will replace those and see what happens.