Hi Ray,

Do you have gearbox between the motor and your machine (If so the brake torque will increase by the same ratio as the gearbox ratio) .

If the answer is yes to the question then rule of thumb is to fit a brake rated at least twice the motor torque (this is for harsh applications).

How are the current brakes powered? Are they electric or compressed air?

I presume the reclaimer rides on steel wheels on steel rails. If the current brakes are able to lock and slide the wheels on a dry rail, then adding more brake won't accomplish anything- you're already at the maximum force available based on the adhesive weight of the reclaimer.

If that's the case, and you are worried about high winds, I would suggest fabricating some sort of clamp that would grip under the head of the rails. Put them at each end of the carriage on both sides of the unit. That would both add more braking force, and secure the reclaimer against tipping in high winds. I would configure these as "fail safe"- if whatever power you use for the service brakes (electric, compressed air) fails, the clamps will lock the reclaimer in place until power is restored.

If the current rails are bolted together, and the bolts and plates would interfere with the clamps, consider having the rail joints thermite welded instead.

Hope this helps! Would hate to have somebody get hurt or equipment damaged in a storm.

I have actually designed and built disk braking systems......

OK to start off on an irritating point... If the braking system all ready works, then do you have any GOOD REASONS for going to all the effort to change to a new system?

If strong winds are a consideration, then one can reduce the "sail area" by removing all sheet metal, from everything that does not actually require covering.

One could also ballast the machine, by putting "dirt tanks" at ground level, to give it a wide low heavier base.

The other issue is I assume you may have "electric brakes" - and going by the above information, that your machine runs on rails, the simplest disk brake system is to use the wheel it's self as the "disk brake".

One can clamp the wheel radially on it's circumference, or on the wheel sides.

There is another simpler system, it's called a Foucault brake, they are usually electrically activated and electromagnetically clamp the brake pad to the rail - but since you don't need to emergency stop a large vehicle from a high speed, a simpler version could be made using steel backing beams, hard wood pads and hydraulic rams, to drive the pad onto the rail head.

Just work out the crushing strength of the wood, and increase the contact area, so that the maximum force per unit area is about 25 - 30% of that.

It would not take much to "over- rate" the braking force or the slip resistance of steel wheels on steel rails, by 200% using wooden brake pads.

This way you could use your current drum brakes for stopping transit of the machine and the hydraulic Foucalt brakes to lock the machine into position.

This site has some great info on the three versions of these systems.

http://openbve.freeforums.org/question-regarding-the-different-brake-types-t75.html