Why not to drive a John Deere without the brake drums on

Anonymous-0 · Oct 27, 2012

I have never posted on the JD side before but I recently had the wild hair to own a 2 cyl (I'm a Farmall guy, but love all tractors). So I bought a 70, it runs ok but needed brakes. I pulled the drums off. While waiting for parts I needed to move the tractor so I went to move it, I made it about 30 feet when all at once the entire right side brake assembly broke off and fell to the ground. That is not the worst part, without the brake drums on the brake shaft slid inwards and hit ring gear breaking it. So the brake shaft slid towards the ring gear cocking the brake shaft braking off the brake assembly and one of the planetarys on the ring gear. Just another lesson learned the hard way. My question is would it be easier to unbolt the entire rear end with the axles in place or should I remove the axles and bull gears from the rear end housing. A friend told me that's what I get for switching colors

Anonymous-0 · Oct 27, 2012

a couple more photos of the destruction

clampdaddy · Oct 27, 2012

Ouch!!! I always wondered why the drums were riveted to the brake shaft on my "A" instead of using an easily remiveable bolt on drum like cars use.......now I know.

CLW · Oct 27, 2012

gtx1967jewison · Oct 27, 2012

The rivets should have been a clue. They are meant to be removed /serviced as an assembly. Easier that way anyhow, on a bench. Also, repair manuals are your FRIEND, even on "simple old relics".
The best way is to build good stands to hold the maincase & spin the bolts out & just wheel the hole a$$ end away. Good luck!

It really sucks when things break on ya that's for sure

Scott in SC · Oct 27, 2012

gtx,

The drums are not riveted to the shaft on a 70, they have a nut on the shaft and are removable. Clampdaddy said his A had drums riveted to the shaft, as I’m sure it did. The 70 and other models are different.

Scott

Mike M · Oct 27, 2012

You have to split it apart at the main case to rear axle housing to get the diff. Out. Pulling the axles and bull gears will not let you get it out.

MoMark · Oct 28, 2012

Goatboy,

Don't let that friend's comment sour you on these old 2-cylinders. He was probably joking but rest assured, this is uncommon & these things are pretty bulletproof. I agree that you would be better off to roll the entire axle housing away unless you need to replace the axle seals & do other work in there too.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 28, 2012

Splitting it wasn't bad at all. Getting the dif. out was a little trickey. Can I still get gaskets from a john Deere dealer?

scotc · Oct 30, 2012

It needed a good cleaning out anyhow.

FactoryFarmer · Oct 30, 2012

(quoted from post at 16:29:21 10/28/12) Can I still get

Yes you still can!

Kurt_JDB · Nov 10, 2012

Goatboy,

Recognize that you may have a potentially very unstable tractor the way you are supporting the front. I can't quite tell from the pictures, but if you have a rollomatic front end, the only thing keeping your tractor from pitching over on it's left side is the fact that it is balanced on the blocks under the main case. It looks like you only have a jack on the right side. The Rollomatic allows the front wheels to move up and down in opposite directions, so they do not provide any lateral stability to prevent a roll over.

There was a fellow on here a few years ago who posted a picture of his tractor that fell over after supporting it like you have done. He was very lucky not to be injured. Be safe.

Kurt

Why not to drive a John Deere without the brake drums on

Anonymous-0

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Anonymous-0

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clampdaddy

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CLW

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gtx1967jewison

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Scott in SC

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Mike M

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MoMark

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Anonymous-0

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scotc

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FactoryFarmer

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