stump grinder hand brake on or off

[jose]

hi all

i have a preadtor 450 and was chatting to a guy who said that when grinding the hand brake should NOT be on, and it should be held in position by gently applying the forward or backward drive levers.

 

i have always been under the impression that the u position the grinder in the required position, apply the hand brake to keep it in the right place and then grind away.

 

Apparently the 450 is the same machine as the greenmech an another machine, all produced by laski in the checz republic. they just spray it the required colour.

 

 

Another question, is there any adjustment on the handbrake, apart fron near the top lever(with the big spring). my machine has just had a brand new cable fitted but it does not work at all.

 

many thanks

jose

[Hodge]

sounds dodgy that mate, what is the point of the hand brake if not for locking the wheel while grinding.

[jose]

yep thats what i thought.

 

the dealer i got it off is trying to say it may cause damage, thus laying any posible blame on me!

 

just had a look in the owners manual and it dont say not to gring with it on, then again its a bit vauge with the dos and donts.

[PeteB]

I sold quite a few of those grinders, good tool in the right hands too. I always used it with brake on and left it on when inching forward! You may have run out of adjustment at the top because things need looking at down below. Try looking at how much friction material is available and I seem to remember that the lever is on a splined shaft, maybe adjust there.

 

I would think that if a brake is fitted, it was for a reason.

[geoff]

I only grind with the brake on,mines a big old dosco,the brake is not realy as heavy duty as I would want.

They have a habit of getting gunged up & corroded on the caliper,service that & the cable system will not be under the same stress.

[geoff]

I have also creapt it on the brake to move the machine further into the grind,but believe that it over stresses the drive & brake,better off reversing out & clearing/leveling the platform for the wheels,saves your shoulders a lot of work too.

Its a static brake to fix the work position,not a friction device to hold you on a heap of grinding chaff.

[Theocus]

I have a 450 and you should grind with the brake on. It creeps other wise and can cause it to jump up.

[chaffey]

I realise this is going to sound a little anal but some of these posts are all about being competent. If people are unsure of things like this perhaps training would be the answer. God forbid you should have an accident and try to make a claim on insurance and they found something like this on the net (that will be somewhere in the www forever now) they would blame you and for not being trained correctly. Sorry if this sounded bad but just thinking how it could affect you.

[jose]

the main reason for my post is more to astabilsh if anybody knows the correct procedure.

 

i have been grinding stumps out for over 10 years from small push along ones to big ones ( preadtor 75).

 

my small one (450) is near enough brand new, not done 10 hrs. it went in to have a hand brakes cable replaced as it was damaged on delivery, they put a new one on and now it doesnt work. the dealer is now trying to blame me saying i damaged it by grinding with the brake on.

thing is i check the owners manual and it does not say anything with regards to grinding with or with out the brake on. Basically he is trying to worm out of fixing it.

 

hence why i am asking what others do.

 

the other question was if there was any other adjustment other than the screw uo by the handle. because the dealer and the mchanic dont have a clue and so far have no joy getting the info out of laski.

[geoff]

You should grind with the brake on,but disengage the brake when moving into the work for the next sweep.

I f yours is anything like my dosco,and I suspect it is,there is some adjustment on the caliper itself,bit fidly to get at,but fairly easy,(10 minute job).

Hope this helps,and I would be inclined to question the dealers attitude to brake usage.