Anybody coat the underside of mower deck?

[MilkyWay]

Dudes and other
I tried something and I just wonder how it is going to work and also if anyone has a better idea. I have a pos Craftsman ZTR that is starting into it's third year of home use and I don't think it is in as good of condition as my 20+ year old Kubota 1MTR. When I got ready to put the deck back on the Kubota after winter storage/clean-up, I decided to brush paint the underside with truck bed liner. I have only cut grass for a few hours since then and I don't think that is much of a test. I want to do the same treatment to the Craftsman unless someone has a better idea; like maybe submarine paint!
Here is a song that reminds me of my old college sweetheart:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2C0mURn3ZU

 

[SidecarFlip]

Paint mine every year with whatever I have laying around (when I change out the blades in the fall) and it lasts maybe 2 mows in the spring and it's kaput. I paint more for over the winter rust protection than anything else. My opinion is, other than to prevent rust in the off season, you are wasting your time and money.

 

[MilkyWay]

Paint mine every year with whatever I have laying around (when I change out the blades in the fall) and it lasts maybe 2 mows in the spring and it's kaput. I paint more for over the winter rust protection than anything else. My opinion is, other than to prevent rust in the off season, you are wasting your time and money.

Yea; I was sort of afraid of that. It just seems to me that there ought to be _SomethinG_ that would help. How do you guys clean under your deck after each time you use it without going completely nuts in time investment?

 

[SidecarFlip]

Slip Plate or PAM or whatever helps for a few minutes and is then gone.

 

[GeoHorn]

Clean it up with a wire-wheel and paint it with Zinc/Cold-galvanize paint. Rustoleum makes it in rattle cans. The advantage is that even where the paint is worn away from cutting.. the remaining zinc keeps the entire deck free of corrosion.

 

[RCW]

Milky - not sure if this helps, but was a topic short while ago. It did talk about more than non-stick coatings, if my memory serves:

http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40597

 

[MilkyWay]

Milky - not sure if this helps, but was a topic short while ago. It did talk about more than non-stick coatings, if my memory serves:

http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40597

Thanks you, and you, and you,,, that was a good thread to read. I use a product that has proven very versatile to clean, lube, restore dry-rot cracks in tires, rejuvenate leather belts and gloves and all sorts of other uses, called Black Magic Tire Wet. I think I will spray it on just for giggles and see what happens. I did crawl under the 1MTR today after cutting to clean and inspect the truck bed liner remnants if any, and it does not seem to be the silver bullet. Gosh, darn, heck; what a surprise! I'm depressed! I think I need to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1aljtizVHU

 

[dlsmith]

I doubt you will get anything to last more than an hour or two in the environment present inside the mower deck when it's running. Any dust or dirt sucked up by the blades is going to sandblast anything present. Just look at how the metal on the trailing edge erodes after a couple of seasons of use.
When I pull the deck off at the end of the mowing season to install the snow blower, I check the belts, grease the idler pulley and pivot, check the spindles for any play and grease them, pull the blades and sharpen them, and scrape off any caked on grass, which is usually only a few handfuls.
If you were to coat it with bedliner material, it might last a season, but even if it does, it won't be as easy to scrape off as bear metal.

My mower is kept inside when not mowing, is 28 years old and is never rusty.
What's to gain by painting it?

I guess if you have a lot of spare time to repaint the underside of a mower deck, knock yourself out, but I think it's a waste of time.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I doubt you will get anything to last more than an hour or two in the environment present inside the mower deck when it's running. Any dust or dirt sucked up by the blades is going to sandblast anything present. Just look at how the metal on the trailing edge erodes after a couple of seasons of use.
When I pull the deck off at the end of the mowing season to install the snow blower, I check the belts, grease the idler pulley and pivot, check the spindles for any play and grease them, pull the blades and sharpen them, and scrape off any caked on grass, which is usually only a few handfuls.
If you were to coat it with bedliner material, it might last a season, but even if it does, it won't be as easy to scrape off as bear metal.

My mower is kept inside when not mowing, is 28 years old and is never rusty.
What's to gain by painting it?

I guess if you have a lot of spare time to repaint the underside of a mower deck, knock yourself out, but I think it's a waste of time.

My sentiments exactly but then some people like to tinker...lol

I never sharpen my blades as they only last a season in our sandy loam soil. They get replaced every fall with a new set.

Like I said, I spray paint the underside with whatever I have a lot of paint wise. I keep my mower in the hay barn all winter so it needs some protection. It's around 14 years old now and shows no signs of expiring. M60 Tank. In the fall, I pull the deck check everything, pull the old blades replace the spindle nuts, pressure wash it real good, spray paint it, put on the new blades, grease the spindles, put the deck back on, add some Marine Stabil in the fuel tank, pull the battery and call it good.

Last fall it was Rustoleum Hunter green enamel. I bought too much when I painted the propane tanks. By the end of mowing season, the hunter green enamel will be long gone. Next fall might be Kubota orange. I bought a quart of Kubota orange (Magic Enamel) that don't match so I'll probably use that. The Rustoleum Kubota orange matches much better.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Used to post once in a while on the TBYNet Lawnmower forum but gave that up. Way too many anally retentive people on there treating their lawnmowers better than they treat their spouses. Its a frigging lawnmower, not a Ferrari.

Guess that applies to tractors too. In my case, my tractors are to make money with not to fondle. They get regular maintenance and pressure washed infrequently but never been waxed or fondled. It's a frigging tractor, not a Ferrari.

 

[lugbolt]

Many moons ago I started working for a JD dealer. It was actually my first job. I was originally a shop gofer but the delivery guy quit and I got that job, then moved up later on into tech. At one point I was THE (only one) tech and the delivery guy and the service writer and the service manager and the parts guy. So this one older gentleman brought his LX176 in twice a year for servicing. I always picked it up and delivered it but up until the one point where the other techs left, that was all I did. Well he called and asked me to come get it and service it for the fall (mulch blades, etc for leaves). Ok, be over there in a jiffy. Brought it back to the shop and did the work. While under it changing blades, I noticed that the bottom of the deck was PRISTINE, shiny yellow. The whole mower looked better than the LX176's we had on the showroom. Not a speck of dirt or dust on it anywhere other than what it picked up from hauling it in. So I did what was requested, wiped it down and didn't get the chance to deliver it back, so the new parts guy did it. The owner lived about an hour away which is where we picked it up and delivered it to. So about 2 1/2 hours after the new parts guy left, he shows back up with the mower on the trailer. Great. Guy told the parts guy to take it back to the shop & clean it, then cover it & send it back with a cover on it, but DO NOT send it back otherwise. He actually called & gave me an earfull about how his mower was filthy. Well it wasn't filthy. It had some pollen on it and some road dust but that was all. Next morning I wiped it down, wrapped it up with saran shipping wrap and took it back personally. I asked the guy if that was clean enough for him and he said no, but it'll do. Then I asked him how he kept it so clean. In the garage, he had several stall mats set in one of the bays of the garage (3 car), two fans set next to the stall mats. He parked the mower in between the fans and with the fans on, dust wouldn't build up on the mower while not in use. Said after every use, he'd remove the mowing deck, manually clean/wash it, WAX it (bottom and top), wash/wax the rest of the tractor, and then reassemble. I'm thinking it was maybe a 3 hour job.

OCD you think? I thought so too. His wife shows up as we are chatting, in their car and it was FILTHY inside and out. Never had a wax job in it's life, nor did it look like it ever got washed other than when it rained. It was so dirty inside that there was barely enough room for them to park their back side in a seat and that was about it. Bottles on the floor, cigarette butts everywhere, trash, stunk to high heaven even from 10 feet away. But get this. Every time he'd get out of the car, he'd make sure to lock all 4 doors (the old days when you had to manually lock them), then in his shirt pocket he kept a tire pressure gauge. After checking every door individually to make sure they were locked, he'd check all 4 tires to make sure that they didn't lose any air. After checking the tires, he'd walk around & check all 4 doors again, once satisfied he'd go in the house or to the store or whatever.

The man was certainly different. Was glad to leave the house without that darn junk deere behind me although the ride back to the shop in 104° heat in traffic with no a/c in a manual shift 87 toyota that apparently had zero floor insulation sucked!

 

[MilkyWay]

...Then I asked him how he kept it so clean. In the garage, he had several stall mats set in one of the bays of the garage (3 car), two fans set next to the stall mats. He parked the mower in between the fans and with the fans on, dust wouldn't build up on the mower while not in use....

Lugnut, your story reminds me; I have only bought 3 Kubotas in my days. My 1 MTR was first, then I bought a L3300 shortly after I bought my current property. I could tell pdq that it just did not have a big enough butt to handle 24 acres of bush hogging so I decided to sell it. I had a friend at the time who was a clock and watch repair tech that sold it for me and when they came out to look at and potentially buy the tractor, Tommy Cobb, my friend said something like, "it is not really true about the rumor that Jim polishes the gravel in the driveway before he parks the tractor over it". Some things just stick in your mind.