Have a fifteen year old lawnmower deck starting to rust from inside where the blades are. Planned to blast and coat with SPI epoxy. I’m sure it’ll be alright from UV standpoint and figure it’s about the toughest stuff I could coat with, but should I topcoat with anything? The only advantage I could think of would be if there was something “slicker” the grass wouldn’t stick to?
Lawn Mower Deck
- Thread starter Rykone
- Start date
'68 Coronet R/T
Oldtimer
I have a Cub Cadet riding mower and the dirt and weeds here in Arizona built up under the deck to 3" thick each time I mowed with it.
Tried some spray on ceramic coating but it did nothing, so I cleaned everything really well (Spray Nine Cleaner/Degreaser works great) and sanded with 80 grit. Shot two good coats of Epoxy and let it set for a couple of days, then I shot 3 coats of Euro Clear. Let that set a couple of days and then tried mowing again.
Still had some build up but it came right off with the water hose.
Tried some spray on ceramic coating but it did nothing, so I cleaned everything really well (Spray Nine Cleaner/Degreaser works great) and sanded with 80 grit. Shot two good coats of Epoxy and let it set for a couple of days, then I shot 3 coats of Euro Clear. Let that set a couple of days and then tried mowing again.
Still had some build up but it came right off with the water hose.
metalman
Oldtimer
What! No GTX blue?
I coated it two summers ago. Forget what I used but it was before I found SPI epoxy. Went to do my spring maintenance and sharpen the blades and it’s already showing rust through in places. I have production clear left over from my last project, maybe I’ll go ahead and try it out. Don’t think it could hurt with epoxy under it. Gets hard to find dry times to mow in the spring sometimes so if I could clear the grass easier that’d be a plus.
MJM
Promoted Users
If you ever find a product that will stick to the underside of a mower deck, please post it up. I've never had rusting issue with my decks. Most likely due to not mowing the grass when it's wet for the most part. It is kind of amazing that grass clippings will wear the underside of the deck coating off. I don't use anything on the underside of the deck once the paint or powder coating has worn away. The grass clipping just keep the metal shiny and new looking.
theastronaut
Promoted Users
Tractor supply has a graphite coating that is supposed to be good for mower decks to keep grass from building up underneath. I used it on leaf springs once but that's my only experience with it.
MJM
Promoted Users
Well how do you like that, ask and you shall receive. I bought my wife one of those older riding Snapper mowers. Like the one in Forest Gump.
I'm going to do a restoration on the mower so, I'll try that Slide Van Sickle paint from tractor supply. What's the worst that can happen, it falls off. Well worth the try.
Thanks for speaking up.
RosharonRooster
Promoted Users
Epoxy and then raptor the next day??
I wouldn't. Bed liner is pretty tough, but it would inevitably get damaged, and then trap moisture.
I was debating either the van slide or raptor over the epoxy, but I think you may be right. Probably stick with the epoxy and maybe coat half with van slide and run it this season to see if/how much of a difference it makes.
Just picked one up myself about 8 months ago. a little newer than the Gump model, but basically the same. this one was a low hour original owner/motor/tires/blades/clutch and all when i picked it up. still trying to figure out if im going to strip it down and paint it or not.
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MJM
Promoted Users
Yep that's it Brian, the exact same one. Yours looks like it is in much better condition than mine. The paint on mine is shot and it needs tires and a new seat. Deck is still rust free and it starts and runs so that's a plus. I built a privacy yard at the back of our house which is my wife's little resort. She has been using a push mower for the last 18 years but, asked me last year to get her a riding mower. She liked the little snapper mowers. I gotta admit, they are so simple which makes them rather cool.
Enjoy,
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yes! I bought this strictly for its bagging abilities though. a new blade and hi-lift tips and this thing will pull the dirt out of the ground.
It's almost impossible to find one with an original seat that is not torn, same with the bagger. When i came across this i just could not pass it up for the price. couple hundred bucks in tires, blade, tips, clutch ( a lot of adjusting time), filters, plug and now 3 oil changes and it appears to be good other than a couple paint issues. If i do paint it i plan to do something dumb like maybe a bright green or purple flake job.
Lizer
Mad Scientist
My ExMark begs to differ!
MJM
Promoted Users
I'm leaning towards using SPI orange with white rim wheels. We humans are silly, tricking out our mowers...lol
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The build-up of grass underneath is actually an aid to not wearing through the deck in operation. It is counter-intuitive--but the impact of millions of almost massless grass clippings at high speed off the blades is the culprit. Wind turbine blades are a huge problem with dust impacts. I see this a lot with transfer movement of very soft materials like polystyrene bead or sawdust. Once you get a buildup on the stationary part the impact/abrasion is against like material and the buildup acts as a cushion. Welded hard facing bead patterns on a lot of earthmoving equipment is the same principle--you trap dirt on the blade and moving dirt only contacts this buildup.