SnowStorm34
Member
Hello everyone
Just to preface my post, I think I have a simple problem, but I have very little knowledge on how to maintain a tractor.
Anyway, I have a small tractor that my Grandfather made out of odds and ends 40~50 years ago. Here's a photo of it:
It runs great, but I've lost the brakes. Years ago when the tractor was left in the care of my Dad and myself, the brakes gave out.
The issue was it ran out of fluid. They must have been slowly leaking undetected for years. Either way we refilled the reservoir, supposedly bled the brake lines (I don't remember exactly what we did), and we thought we fixed the issue. That was until the next morning when we found the fluid had leaked onto the floor.
At that point we assumed the issue was bigger than what we could handle and left it. The tractor has an emergency brake that works well enough.
But lately, the notion that we didn't properly bleed the lines has been stuck in my mind. Let me show you some pictures; perhaps someone may be kind enough to walk me through what needs to be done.
Image 01:
Here's the pedal and reservoir. There is no pressure when depressing the pedal, and there's probably 3/4" of fluid left in the reservoir.
Image 02:
Underneath the pedal is the line heading towards the back wheels. One thing to note, the rubber where the pedal pushes into the area under the reservoir is in pretty rough shape. Is this bad? In case I need to replace it, what is this thing even called?
Image 03:
Continuing down the line, here is where the line splits in two. I've got a feeling we may have loosened this back when we thought we were properly bleeding the brakes.
Image 04:
This is the last I can see of the line. In order to get access to the parts beyond what we can see here, I'd have to remove the fenders. But this is what has got me thinking. I've got a feeling the part I need to get access to properly bleed the brakes is beyond this point.
What are your thoughts? I've never done something like this, so I'd appreciate all the advice I can get.
Thank you very much.
Just to preface my post, I think I have a simple problem, but I have very little knowledge on how to maintain a tractor.
Anyway, I have a small tractor that my Grandfather made out of odds and ends 40~50 years ago. Here's a photo of it:
It runs great, but I've lost the brakes. Years ago when the tractor was left in the care of my Dad and myself, the brakes gave out.
The issue was it ran out of fluid. They must have been slowly leaking undetected for years. Either way we refilled the reservoir, supposedly bled the brake lines (I don't remember exactly what we did), and we thought we fixed the issue. That was until the next morning when we found the fluid had leaked onto the floor.
At that point we assumed the issue was bigger than what we could handle and left it. The tractor has an emergency brake that works well enough.
But lately, the notion that we didn't properly bleed the lines has been stuck in my mind. Let me show you some pictures; perhaps someone may be kind enough to walk me through what needs to be done.
Image 01:
Here's the pedal and reservoir. There is no pressure when depressing the pedal, and there's probably 3/4" of fluid left in the reservoir.
Image 02:
Underneath the pedal is the line heading towards the back wheels. One thing to note, the rubber where the pedal pushes into the area under the reservoir is in pretty rough shape. Is this bad? In case I need to replace it, what is this thing even called?
Image 03:
Continuing down the line, here is where the line splits in two. I've got a feeling we may have loosened this back when we thought we were properly bleeding the brakes.
Image 04:
This is the last I can see of the line. In order to get access to the parts beyond what we can see here, I'd have to remove the fenders. But this is what has got me thinking. I've got a feeling the part I need to get access to properly bleed the brakes is beyond this point.
What are your thoughts? I've never done something like this, so I'd appreciate all the advice I can get.
Thank you very much.