A riding lawn care vehicle (10) includes first and second drive wheels (32), a steering lever (34), a brake assembly (110), and a mechanical brake linkage assembly (120) including a cable tensioner (250). The brake assembly (110) may be operably coupled to at least one of the first and second drive wheels (32) to enable brakes to be selectively applied to the first and second drive wheels (32) based on a position of the steering lever (34). The cable tensioner (250) may be configured to activate the brake assembly (110) relative to the at least one of the first and second drive wheels (32) in response to the steering lever (34) being moved outwardly to an outboard position. The mechanical linkage assembly (120) may be configured to provide a greater amount of rotation of the cable tensioner (250) than a magnitude of rotation of the steering lever (34) when the steering lever (34) is moved from the inboard position to the outboard position.