Brake problem after sticking hunting cart

[MyCousinVinnie]

nothing bent. I may try to clean and lube one last time. if anyone has any ideas in the meantime, please let me know. Thanks.

[MyCousinVinnie]

So I cleaned and inspected everything one last time. First thing I did was back all the way off the brake cables to make sure nothing was preventing proper self-adjustment of the brakes. Then, I took off the drums on both sides and cleaned everything and put a little sandpaper on the drum and shoes to make sure no more debris on them. Lubed the self-adjusters, and then put drums and wheels back on.

Take it out in the yard and back up two or three times full speed and push on brakes. Brakes have some, but not great stopping ability.

I then tighten the brake cable up because it had so much play in it. I take it out again and same thing.

I then jack the wheels up with parking brake on. Again, one side is very difficult to turn (almost locked) and the other acts like one of the shoes is not engaging, as it goes from hard to turn to easy to turn in one rotation. Maybe the drum?

Because the brakes provided some stopping ability, I tried to take it out in the field. It will not stop going down a hill. It's not dangerous on the hills I was on, but if you got a little steeper, it will be.

Any advice on how to fix it? Thanks.

[MyCousinVinnie]

For anyone who cares or who might have this issue come up again, I ended up taking it into a shop. The brake cables were stretched (not something I could notice on visual inspection), and the sand in the drums ate up the shoes. I didn't think the shoes were that bad based on what I saw, but shoes are relatively inexpensive.

Bottom line - if something similar to this happens to you (1) do not drive the cart until you get all the dirt/sand out to avoid damaging the shoes, and (2) if the brakes still don't work after cleaning out, replace the cables.

[Htownblue]

You need to adjust the drum mechanism itself. You’ve eliminated play in the brake linkage. You’ve got one drum adjusted too tight. One too loose. Good “adjusting drum brakes” and it will show you how.