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Have you wondered what will happen when you bump off to something while your car is at a good speed and you are unable to apply brakes on it? Well, there will be a disaster. This small example can be given to make somebody realize the importance of brakes in a car. Similarly, when it comes to heavy equipment, you need to be extra careful with its brakes. Mind you, that when you are dealing with heavy equipment, you become accountable for any loss that happens if you are not able to operate the machine properly which also includes its brakes not functioning properly. At times, when you apply brakes you can get to hear a sound that appears like the brakes are not well lubricated. This is perhaps the first indication the machine is giving you to work on the maintenance of the machine. It is always advisable that you do not start opening the parts of the equipment as long as you are not an expert who know the in and out of the machine and can indeed work things out and repair the brakes. You should get help of a mechanic who can fix the problem for you.
Apparently, not many people go to the mechanic in the first place. They would like to experiment things on their own and when they realize that this is not their cup of tea that is when they turn up to a mechanic. By the time, they have caused enough harm to the machine.
For people who are used to working on a bulldozer can try the following steps to adjust brakes on it. However, it is still recommended that they get in touch with a mechanic to work things out.
Firstly, you should remove the steel floor plate. Once you have done that, you should be able to see the drive shaft area. You should then check how long it takes for the drive shaft to stop spinning after you are done with depressing the clutch firmly. If you find that the spin time is taking quite long, then you should make sure that you grip the brake band aggressively. However, a word of caution will be that you do not try to be very aggressive in tightening the brake band as there is a possibility that you may end up causing a brake drag on the disk and in this process may overheat and damage the lining of the brake.
You should ensure that the disk spins smoothly when you put off the engine and monitor the temperature of the disk after it has ran smoothly for some time. This is done to check if it is getting hot. If it is overheating then that suggests there is a problem. You can do the same process again and check if it is overheating. If it continues to overheat, then it is better that you take this up to a mechanic and let him fix the problem.