A brake controller of a machine can be configured to determine brake power associated with braking operations, such as operations to slow the machine or maintain a speed of the machine. The brake controller can allocate the brake power among systems such as a battery system, a resistive grid, auxiliary systems, a mechanical brake system, and/or other systems, based on a defined priority order of the systems. For example, the brake controller can prioritize using a regenerative brake system to charge a battery system during a braking operation up to a currently-available capacity of the battery system, and allocating any remaining brake power to a lower-priority system. The mechanical brake system can be the lowest-priority system, such that use of the mechanical brake system can be avoided unless an amount of brake power exceeds capacities of higher-priority systems to consume the brake power.