How do you adjust brakes on a 129 Hydrostat

[three4rd]

Hi,

I had noticed of late that I have to really push the pedal all the way down and then still sometimes the tractor doesn't stop right away. I really had trouble going in reverse and stopping on a fairly steep slope the other day.

Having looked in the manual, it said about disconnecting the pin end of the right brake rod and then adjusting the jam nuts on the left wheel, then vice-versa. I couldn't quite see the point of disconnecting at the pin end, and so simply decreased some of the considerable horizontal play that both the brake rods had (not sure if this is normal or not) by tightening up on the jam nuts until the wheel turned harder and thus the brake pedal engaging sooner. Did I do the right thing? I took it out and tested it afterwards and the brakes seem to engage better and without having to press the pedal down quite as far. It did seem like the end nut was a bit loose on both sides and so perhaps they have been vibrating loose and thus reducing the brake efficiency.

Also, should the linkage near the wheel (sorry, don't know the name for it) that actually engages the brake be able to be moved around. Everything back there seems to have so much play - I didn't know if this is normal or not. I'm guessing that, unless the brake is engaged, up until that time the brake rod and linkages that comprise the whole braking system are relatively loose and can move around. I think it was always that way but I'm not sure. And if my jam nuts have not moved from being loose, etc., than perhaps there is something else wrong that I'm not addressing.

Any advice welcome, as I don't want to run out of brakes!

Thanks,
Keith