Hi Ray, sorry to hear of your woes. Did you buy this one new? With all those mowers why did you need another one. I recently fitted a disc brake brake to a Greenfield but not a task I would expect anybody to try. I have a couple of Deutcher 360's, what is your problem with those. I admit the brake is from the Flintstones. I have an Ariens and that has a good brake. Stretching the frame should not be too difficult, you really only need to move the front wheels forward, just takes a fair few hours