Grasshopper Midmount Brake Woes - HELP!

Moe Furfun

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Jul 18, 2018
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Hi Guys!

First post here.

I just got me a nice G'hopper 428d in nice shape, and have been going through it doing some little things and checking it over before putting it to work here on the ol' homestead.

I knew from the git-go that the parking brake didn't work, and assumed the worst- that it would be the infamous cracked calipers. Pulled it apart last week, and the calipers appear to be in good shape, and the brake pads didn't look bad (or so it seemed to me)- Only thing I could find was a cracked mounting bracket on the left side. Replaced that and cleaned everything up and put 'er back together, and tried adjusting everything 30 different ways...and while I have the brakes working *somewhat* now (The right brake clamps solid and will hold on a moderate hill; left brake, no; and on a steepish hill, it'll just roll on down)- I want them to be GOOD- i.e. to be able to hold the mower solidly on any hill- as I have a lot of hills and banks, and would really like a parking brake I can depend on, in an emergency.

My question is (Since I have everything adjusted to the max already) what more can I do? Not having a solid brake is killing my enjoyment of an otherwise almost perfect machine. (O-K, the hydro reservoir leaks, but I'll fix that over the winter- otherwise, she's a beaut!)

I have already:
Cleaned, inspected and reassembled the calipers.
Adjusted the thingies that pull on the caliper levers.
Adjusted the parking brake handle.
Tightened a loose body mount near the brake handle.

?????

HELP!
 

shiftsuper175607

Lawn Addict
Joined
Sep 11, 2013
Threads
10
Messages
1,000
Hi Guys!

First post here.

I just got me a nice G'hopper 428d in nice shape, and have been going through it doing some little things and checking it over before putting it to work here on the ol' homestead.

I knew from the git-go that the parking brake didn't work, and assumed the worst- that it would be the infamous cracked calipers. Pulled it apart last week, and the calipers appear to be in good shape, and the brake pads didn't look bad (or so it seemed to me)- Only thing I could find was a cracked mounting bracket on the left side. Replaced that and cleaned everything up and put 'er back together, and tried adjusting everything 30 different ways...and while I have the brakes working *somewhat* now (The right brake clamps solid and will hold on a moderate hill; left brake, no; and on a steepish hill, it'll just roll on down)- I want them to be GOOD- i.e. to be able to hold the mower solidly on any hill- as I have a lot of hills and banks, and would really like a parking brake I can depend on, in an emergency.

My question is (Since I have everything adjusted to the max already) what more can I do? Not having a solid brake is killing my enjoyment of an otherwise almost perfect machine. (O-K, the hydro reservoir leaks, but I'll fix that over the winter- otherwise, she's a beaut!)

I have already:
Cleaned, inspected and reassembled the calipers.
Adjusted the thingies that pull on the caliper levers.
Adjusted the parking brake handle.
Tightened a loose body mount near the brake handle.

?????

___________
Over simplified answer...whatever exerts the pressure to push the brake pad into the disc or drum is not putting out enough pressure.
isolate that problem and repair.
 

Moe Furfun

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Jul 18, 2018
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Seems simple enough, eh? Trouble is, everything seems uber tight when the brakes are on. Ironically, for a heavy-duty commercial-grade mower that weighs over 1400 pounds, and on which everything is really beefy....somehow, the business end of the brakes (mainly the calipers) are really cheesy. They seem to be the weak point on these mowers (I've looked at a few Grasshoppers before buying this 'un, and I don't recall the brakes working on any of 'em!).

The calipers are basically a light cast alloy housing with an actuating lever on a pivot pin that is held in place by a cheesy metal clip. When the lever is pulled by the brake linkage, the corner of the lever inside the caliper forces one of the brake pads against the wheel rotor. That's it! I mean, there are literally 4 parts to these calipers, and only one moving part! It surprises me that on such an otherwise well-engineered and beefy mower, the brakes would be so cheesy. (Did I mention: "Cheesy"?).

If there are any G'hopper mechanics here, or anyone who's worked on these a bit, I'm sure they'd know what the remedy is- I'm just trying to avoid re-inventing the wheel or throwing unnecessary parts at something that likely has a simple (if not so obvious) fix.
 

Moe Furfun

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Joined
Jul 18, 2018
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Ooopppss! I seem to have posted this in the wrong place. I'll repost on the Grasshopper board. If the mods want to remove this now....
 
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