Shop-Built Emergency Brake For IH 706

Shop-Built Emergency Brake For IH 706 TRACTORS Modifications At nearly 80 Steve Vargo had no interest in having to jump off his IH 706 so he engineered an emergency stop He did so after backing it out of his shed and finding himself without steering or brakes Headed downhill jumping might have been his only alternative “Luckily I had a manure pallet on the rear and it stopped the tractor ” says Vargo “A friend of mine had to jump while his tractor and bush hog went down into the holler I’ve heard of lots of others with the same problem ” In Vargo’s part of West Virginia the holler or valleys are steep and can be deep “All it takes is a piece of dirt in the hydraulic oil filter ” says Vargo “The same problem can be caused if the pump fails or the relief valve sticks open You lose the hydraulic pressure in the steering brakes and transmission All the tractor can do is free-wheel ” When Vargo approached a semi-trailer mechanic about it he was told nothing could be done That was all the challenge he needed to find a solution He installed a brake assembly and drum from the back axle of a semi-trailer on the left axle of his tractor The brake assembly is mounted to a 1/2-in steel plate bolted to the tractor frame The drum with a section of the rim is mounted to the tractor’s wheel so when the wheel turns so does the drum “I had considered using a hand-operated lever to activate the brake but I didn’t want to rely on it ” says Vargo “I decided to use the tractor hydraulics to activate it I was worried I wouldn’t have the brake assembly centered and it would drag I made jigs out of wood and centered them so I knew how to cut the steel plate ” His activation system was fabricated largely from salvaged parts The system consists of two coil springs from the struts on a car housed in square steel tubes The tubes are welded to steel plates that bolt to the axle housing The activation trigger is the tractor’s left 3-pt rocker arm A threaded push rod connected to the rocker arm maintains pressure on the coiled springs keeping the lever on the brake assembly locked When the hydraulics fail the rocker arm drops and the system goes to work The springs release unlocking the lever on the brake assembly and activating the brake drum to stop the tractor “I tested it out on a hill and it worked fine ” says Vargo “I had to measure space carefully to install it as I had only a quarter inch to spare ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Steve Vargo 2135 McGraws Run Rd Valley Grove W Va 26060 ph 304-336-7144

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