Brake change question

First off, sorry this is probably the wrong room for this question but I dint know where else to go. I have a 2012 grizzly 300. I tried to chang my rear pads today and for the life of me I could not get the cylinder to compress all the way flat. I tried C -clamps, screwdrivers, beating it with a hammer. No matter what I did I could not get it all the way down. After I put the old brakes back on and got the hell out of there I did some googling and saw where some brands to get it flat you have to remove the ebrake screw. Does this apply to my quad? I am no mechanic but consider myself fairly handy with a wrench so this was very frustrating. Thanks in advance