[rock1961]

I have an old (1980) sears 12 hp lawn tractor at my summer home that lost its brakes all of a sudden. I do not have the model number or anything but it is the old style gray sears tractor that you see all the time. It has a 4 speed manual tranny. When you push in the brake/clutch, it does not stop the tractor. It shifts fine so it doesn't seem like the clutch is affected. Like I said it happened all of a sudden one day. Can anyone clue me in a bit on how the brakes on these old tractors work and maybe what to look for? I do not have access to it except on weekends. I am not a mechanic but I can generally understand enough to get by. If there is a link to a manual or something that would be great.

Thanks

[MOWERMAN2468]

You may contact your local sears store and speak to one of their "older" repair men to get an idea of how to obtain the model #s. you could look underneath and check for the nut on a kind of a "s" shaped disk, that is in front of , or to the outside of the trans, and tighten this nut a couple of turns at a time until you regain brakes.

[rock1961]

Thanks for your reply. So I take it from your answer that the brake mechanism is more of a trans brake than a wheel brake? How does it work? Are there pads that contact the trans drive shaft or something?

Thanks