Unique braking system gives better control of trailers

Trucks, tractors and specialised machinery can be subjected to loads that will place unusual stresses on standard components, including high demands on braking systems in situations where operators need to selectively and powerfully apply stopping and holding power.
“If you are going down a one-in-four slope with a 90-degree turn at the bottom, you really don’t want your trailer trying to push you straight ahead or off the road. You need to have the best control you can get out of the tractor and trailer brakes. And to be able to apply it simply and quickly from within the operator’s cab,” said site remediation, landscaping and farm contractor Ray Galdes of Mel-Ray Industries.
Galdes has optimised safety, performance and reliability in his Massey Fergusson tractors and their trailers by installing a dual-line air/hydraulic braking system from Australian Brake Controls.
His latest system - applied to his Massey Fergusson 74/85 180 hp 4wd tractor so it can safely tow trailers up to 12 tons – enables the driver to simultaneously control both the tractor’s hydraulic brakes and trailer’s air brakes from the same brake pedal - as well as giving the operator the flexibility to operate the trailer brakes separately using an in-cab hand control.
“We wanted to use air brakes on the trailer because they are the most effective,” said Galdes. “We could burn out brakes really quickly on slopes otherwise, and we obviously didn’t want reliability and safety issues. But the challenge was to synchronise trailer brake control with the hydraulically braked tractor to get braking that was smooth, progressive and powerful. We wanted it to be locally engineered for serviceability and we wanted it to be simple to operate.”
Australian Brake Controls’ solution for Mel-Ray drew on their experience of more than 20 years in engineering braking systems for owners of trucks, tractors and trailers who need optimum braking for specialist applications.
The system engineered for Mel-Ray incorporates a tractor-mounted half horsepower electric compressor feeding a nine litre pneumatic holding tank linked by airlines to the trailer brakes. This pneumatic system is synchronised with the tractor’s hydraulic system via a reaction valve that automatically senses the amount of pressure being applied to the hydraulic system and turns this into an air signal for the trailer’s air system when the brakes are applied. It pneumatically transmits this information to the trailer’s air system, so it operates in tandem with the hydraulic system to provide smoothly modulated power.
The new system incorporates a hand control through which the tractor driver can operate the trailer’s brakes independently. This is a major safety and control asset when working on sloping ground where the trailer might otherwise act to push the tractor and impose high loads on its braking system. The complete braking system is neatly and unobtrusively engineered into the limited space available on hard working machinery.
This hand control valve also allows the operator to control the braking ratio between the tractor and trailer ensuring the correct amount of braking is applied no matter what load is in the trailer.

For more information contact tel: +61 (0)2 9604 4400, email: billw@austbrake.com.au, or visit: www.austbrake.com.au