Westwood T1100 brake query

[andycbryant]

Hi,
I have adopted a very unloved Westwood T1100, which was used as a mower before being laid up. I wish to use it primarily as a lawn tractor & have removed the decomposing cutting deck. Its pointless me looking at that until the tractor moves & stops. The list of tasks is long, but I have briefly managed to get it moving under its own power. Apart from it no longer starting,  One pressing issue is the brake rod, safety cut out switch spring & parking brake set up. Looking underneath shows some bodging has been done in the past & the spring that pulls the cut out switch has just snapped, which doesnt help with diagnosing the starting problem !. The parking brake assembly is mainly missing, apart from the pull up toggle. I have tried to find images & diagrams of how the set up should look underneath, but have largely failed. The available parts diagram isnt clear as to what actually mounts to what. Having changed the rear brake pads & cleaned everything up, the rod operated system seems slack & doesnt seem to actually apply the brake when the foot pedal is pushed. This isnt top of the list as I need to split the peerless transmission to replace axle retaining clips, so can be adjusted later.  So.... I am desperately seeking images that show the correct set up of the parking brake, the pedal operated brake rod system & how the safety cut out switch spring should be connected. If it helps I believe the T1200 set up is virtually the same.

[Mick]

Sorry for late reply as I've been ill with the Flu for a couple of days.  Well I know what I'd do if if it was my own machine, but I obviously can't advise you to bypass those safety switches. But as it has no cutter deck etc.

I would certainly at least bypass the switches one at a time for diagnosis purposes.

The parking brake usually is just a plunger with spring which hooks into the brake rod while the brake is applied, it just holds it there until you push the pedal again to let the plunger pop up and release the brake. 

[andycbryant]

Hi, Thanks for the reply. The safety cut out switch spring "should" be relatively easy to re place repeating the fitting that worked before. Since I have the parking brake plunger, it looks like the part(s) missing are those that actually latch up the brake rod. It may be possible to create something to fit to the rod end of the plunger to do this, but thats a later project. As for now.... well the trans needs stripping down as one of the axles keeps sliding out, so one of the retaining clips is obviously damaged. I've been watching plenty of youtube videos! Hopefully no unpleasant surprises in the case.

[Mick]

The brake rod usually just has a lug welded to the side of it with a hole in it for the plunger to push into and lock it in place.

Regarding the axle, it's probably worn through or perhaps broken the retainer that sits in the groove in the shaft.  Hopefully you don't find any other damage in there.

[andycbryant]

The axle was a relatively easy fix as it was just the 2 axle retaining circlips missing.... probably from when a previous maintainer had hammered off the wheel to change the tyre! The peerless 801 transmission was pretty messy inside, so the opportunity to clear it out & regrease it was taken. One issue was the gear selector ball bearing was worn to an oval shape. I purchased a new 8mm size ball, & screwed the spring & ball retaining plug in to somewhere near where it was before. Evidently there had been a series of adjustments inwards as the old ball wore as I couldnt select any gears & therefore had to back off the retaining plug until I could move the selector by hand. And whilst I looked at a diagram of the peerless 801, I noticed there is supposed to be a spring between the calliper & the operating lever. I certainly didnt have that, which may also explain why the lever seemed to flap about & not actually lever against the brake pad operating rods.