Whoa Nelly
 

On a 149 where I've replaced the brake lining with the 3/16 material from McMaster-Carr and it's been driven enough to "break in" the pads and clear the rotors of rust, I'm still not getting the stopping power I'd like to see on hills. I have tightened the adjustments to the point where it's somewhat difficult to push the tractor but on a hillside, it doesn't stop completely. Is there anything else I can do to hold it on a hill?

I would guess that the neutral return that hooks to the brake pedal isn't adjusted properly so the trans is pushing the brakes, sounds like its time to download the manual and start adjusting linkages. I'm not really sure why you even need brakes on a hydro tractor since you can just stop it with the control lever.

On hills? These are fairly serious grades.

When the dash lever is pointing straight down at neutral does the tractor sit still or does it creep?

It sits still. I'm sure it's not the trans pulling it because it stops quite well on lesser grades.

If you park it on a hill running, just set the lever to a point in forward or revers where it holds it. Or park it sideways on the hill (which is what you should do anyway).

Are you out of adjustment on the brakes? If not, keep tightening them.

I'm not talking about parking it on a hill, I'm talking about coming to a complete stop on a hill and then continuing down to the bottom. I'm not out of adjustment space but as I said previously, it somewhat difficult to push the tractor (not running) on a level surface. If I tighten them up much more, I'll be loading the engine just to drive on a level area.

So.... stop parking it on a hill. They aren't the best brakes in the world. They are a mechanical caliper. FWIW, a mechanical drum brake works better. Park it sideways on the hill, set the brake and be happy.

On another note, a hydro doesn’t push easy anyway. You sure the brake is dragging in neutral?

Once again, I'm not parking on a hill. I'm just stopping to move some obstruction or maybe a kid. On the other hand, I could run over the kid (I'll turn off the mower of course). I'm beginning to think that the only thing that would make it stop is to take a couple of calipers from a small car and install a master cylinder to make it a hydraulic braking system. That would really stop it.

Wait.... are you using the brake to stop the tractor? Or the hydro lever?