That brake drum failure on the 4100 last week still bugs me

We were doing a pick down at the old mill site in Greenville, nothing heavy, maybe 12 tons on the hook. About halfway through the lowering I felt the brake pedal get spongy and the drum started to sing, that high pitched squeal you never want to hear. I set the load down quick, maybe 40 feet in 20 seconds, and we found a cracked brake shoe liner when we pulled the cover. The thing had maybe 400 hours on it, and the shop said it was just a bad batch of lining material, not my adjustment. Has anyone else had a new shoe fail that early, or did I just get the one lemon set?

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1 Comment

rosep871mo ago

Used to figure cracked liners were always from heat or someone cranking the brakes way too hard. But I’ve had that exact thing happen on a newer set, maybe 300 hours in, and the fix was nothing I did. The shop told me the same thing about a bad glue batch, and I honestly thought they were just blowing smoke to cover their work. Now seeing yours fail on a light 12-ton pick, I gotta flip my thinking. That lining material is just crap sometimes, straight from the maker, and it can let go no matter how careful you are. Scary part is you can’t tell it’s bad until you hear that squeal and drop the load fast. You didn’t get a lemon set, you got a bad week from the factory, and I’m glad you set it down safe.