Brake Release Problem

My wife has mentioned that in her infrequent use of our 2017 XT1 she has had problems releasing the brake. I haven't experienced the problem until yesterday when she could not release it, and I couldn't either. I could see under the mower that the brake lever was at the very end a slot that it travels in. It appears to me that she jammed the brake as far as it would go, and it could not travel a little further to effect the release. After a lot of brute force on the pedal, I finally succeeded in releasing it. Before I drop the deck and jack it up to see what I could do to perhaps adjust the linkage, I wonder if I could get some insight on this forum for this. Other than just telling her to lighten up on the brake setting, that is.

You shouldn’t have to pull the deck to service brakes. I would start at the brakes themselves on the transaxle....should be able to remove the rear wheel to access it. The brakes tend to rust up or debris get trapped causing them to stick.