L35 - BT900 Separation and Derusting

[Nicksacco]

CONTINUING THE WORK


I've been delayed a bit with various things, but still making some progress.
Not all dealers stock Kubota paint and I prefer to use that even though the price is egregious.
I used Kubota Dark Grey:
--Quart Part number 70000-73358 and
--Rattle can Part number 70000-00210.
These are the High Gloss versions and not the Semi Gloss.


Here are a few pictures of the ongoing progress.

The next two photos are how rust is being converted using OSPHO.
Rust turns black as the process continues.
I don't know why that section of the axle shows as orange - it's not paint.

The result after two days was a slightly rough surface ready for primer.

Frame supports after cleaning and before/after blasting.
I decided to powdercoat these.

I used high zinc powder primer, then top coated with Dark Grey powder

I had both white and grey primers so I used both:

The first color coat turned out rather nice!

More to come...

 

[Nicksacco]

CONTINUING.......

Here are a couple of pictures from the latest work on the L35:

I won't bore you with pictures of the painting action - just a few pictures from the now-completed frame.
I think I'll give my back an extra day to recover, then I'll start putting the tractor back together (without the rust!)

Sometimes the flash makes the paint look light grey - but I assure you it's dark grey.

Next will be reassembly of the tractor followed by removal of the front wheels and tire replacement.
I won't include that but will include the upcoming backhoe work.

Fortunately I already redid the back half of the backhoe - just need to work on the part that joins with the tractor - and those darned release levers!

 

[Nicksacco]

Random thoughts:

I thought that I'd use my front rims again after having them blasted.
Sounds good on paper - as they say.

Just for kicks I cut out the sidewall of one of the tires so I could see what there was to see.
Wow! Those sidewalls are thick! The rubber is much tougher than a car tire.

Cutting was horrible. I used an angle grinder with a cutting disk - which was a mistake.
Cutting reminded me of my son's drift car burning the tires around the course!
Hmmm, I probably should've used a recip saw or similar.
Nonetheless here is a photo.

After thinking about the costs and especially the time to dismount the old tires, sandblasting, (possibly finding rusted spots), cleaning and painting and remounting, I just decided to purchase new front rims.

 

[Russell King]

You may be able to get a set of tires and rims through the sales department of your dealer through a wholegoods sale.

(and you probably already know that but you said “rims” so I thought I should mention it)

 

[Nicksacco]

You may be able to get a set of tires and rims through the sales department of your dealer through a wholegoods sale.

(and you probably already know that but you said “rims” so I thought I should mention it)

Thanks Russel
I purchased tires about 2 years ago in anticipation of this. Today i ordered rims from my fav dealer.
When all said and done - no more worries about cracked rims and cracked tires!

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

I just pulled a wheel off the truck, blasted the rim, and took it in for zink plating and powder coat: $100
Tire: $200
Unmount/dispose of the old tire/Mount/balance: $35

Given what I bought rims and tires for from Kubota "new" makes sense.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Thanks Russel
I purchased tires about 2 years ago in anticipation of this. Today i ordered rims from my fav dealer.
When all said and done - no more worries about cracked rims and cracked tires!

Whatever you do, don’t use (insert name here) for liquid ballast….. JK

But in all seriousness, the stuff you posted about Ospho is very interesting.

I have tried using it for “very light surface rust” on some of the signs I have made, and although it neutralizes the rust, its a “bitch” to get smooth again.

For the life of me I can’t figure out how to apply it and get a “smooth surface"

I basically have to “sand it all off” to get a “nice smooth finish”.

I will have to try the “paint brush” technique….So far all I have tried is rags and spraying.

It works great on parts that you don’t really care about the “finish” though.


EDIT; Excellent write up too….Keep up the good work sir!

 

[Nicksacco]

Whatever you do, don’t use (insert name here) for liquid ballast….. JK

But in all seriousness, the stuff you posted about Ospho is very interesting.

I have tried using it for “very light surface rust” on some of the signs I have made, and although it neutralizes the rust, its a “bitch” to get smooth again.

For the life of me I can’t figure out how to apply it and get a “smooth surface"

I basically have to “sand it all off” to get a “nice smooth finish”.

I will have to try the “paint brush” technique….So far all I have tried is rags and spraying.

It works great on parts that you don’t really care about the “finish” though.


EDIT; Excellent write up too….Keep up the good work sir!

Ha!
Thank you.
OSPHO is a funny thing to use. It is so thin that a very little goes a long way. One thing i was told by the Ospho guy is to not get things dripping wet.

A key step in the process is to have very clean metal. Any oil residue will cause an "orange peel" effect - like when painting something. Dawn dish soap was recommended.

The Youtube vids show people spraying Ospho on and it running everywhere. Totally wrong and not needed.

Yes, it took me some trial and error but the brush needs to be quite dry. It certainly seems counter-intuitive but it works.
You want as much of the rust removed as possible too. I had so much flaky rust it took a while to get down to metal!

As you brush, you will eventually run into non rusted metal. That is where you will have the most chance to leave "brush marks" . And yes i found that the hard way!

I found that Ospho gets tacky as it cures and going over rough spots lightly with a microfiber rag dampened with Ospho or a fairly dry brush will help a lot.

PS use a good brush and not for example a "chip brush" .

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Ha!
Thank you.
OSPHO is a funny thing to use. It is so thin that a very little goes a long way. One thing i was told by the Ospho guy is to not get things dripping wet.

A key step in the process is to have very clean metal. Any oil residue will cause an "orange peel" effect - like when painting something. Dawn dish soap was recommended.

The Youtube vids show people spraying Ospho on and it running everywhere. Totally wrong and not needed.

Yes, it took me some trial and error but the brush needs to be quite dry. It certainly seems counter-intuitive but it works.
You want as much of the rust removed as possible too. I had so much flaky rust it took a while to get down to metal!

As you brush, you will eventually run into non rusted metal. That is where you will have the most chance to leave "brush marks" . And yes i found that the hard way!

I found that Ospho gets tacky as it cures and going over rough spots lightly with a microfiber rag dampened with Ospho or a fairly dry brush will help a lot.

PS use a good brush and not for example a "chip brush" .

Thanks for the tips.

I will have to try this “dry’ish method”.

I too was kinda “soaking” it…….

I mean, if a little is good, more must be better…..right?…….

 

[Nicksacco]

CONTINUING THE JOURNEY:


Back with some info on the project.
Unfortunately I was ill for a few days with a nasty stomach-thing. Wow!

Here are a few pics of the completion thus far on the L35.

The Rear Hub received 2 new studs. The old ones had a lot of thread ground off - I guess from bad removal habits. A torch, Induction heater, PB Blaster and vice grips were ALL that was needed!

New studs went in easy.

The Step and Loader Brace got some new powdercoating

Of course the Frame Mounts were painted

Then - I hit a snag.

Years ago when I was rebuilding, I was pretty new at this and didn't use any real rust prevention.
So from the Frame Brace forward, the machine is undergoing stripping and redo.
The rust came back with a vengeance and it needs to be stopped!

Today, I decided to work on the backhoe for a change of pace - and for some gratification.
Rust work on the tractor frame is ugly, slow, and filthy.

The part of the backhoe I never got to until now...

Closeup of the Frame after cleaning - showing lots of rust.

Left Side Release components. Rust removal very much needed.

This work with require a lot of TLC in the form of blasting, and powdercoating.

It's no wonder I could never budge the Release Levers. Everything was rusty and locked up.
This mechanism should move smoothly to be able to release the backhoe from the tractor.

 

[Russell King]

For some of these parts you can use something that eats the rust off the metal.
Like this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GRSOJSS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tyche-6010-20&psc=1

 

[Nicksacco]

For some of these parts you can use something that eats the rust off the metal.
Like this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GRSOJSS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tyche-6010-20&psc=1

Thank you Russel!
I've used EvapoRust for some time and I think it's great.

I find that if I put small parts in a container with EvapoRust and then place the container into hot water, the heat makes it work faster. I use that technique with my Ultrasonic heater.
I wish I'd known about products like that 5 years ago!

Check out this photo of the latching mechanism (Holder Mounts) on an L35 I found on the Internet.
It appears that the actual Part Number 040 "Holder Mounts" (and other parts) are unpainted - which makes sense.

One of the many issues on my L35 is that paint was randomly strewn everywhere. You can see it in the above pictures.

@PoTreeBoy and @L35 I'm assuming your holder mounts and Pin Sets are unpainted as well.

 

[L35]

Yes bare, but zinc like coating so no rust.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

@PoTreeBoy and @L35 I'm assuming your holder mounts and Pin Sets are unpainted as well.


View attachment 165305

The jaws and square part of the latch 050 appear to be zinc- chromate plated. The shaft of the latch is just zinc coated. I didn't disassemble mine, so I don't know about the rest.

 

[Russell King]

You can coat parts with materials that will keep them from rusting through electroless processes but the rubbing areas will probably be damaged over time.

Electroless nickel-phosphorus plating - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Nicksacco]

Thanks guys!

I was able to get all the parts cleaned and ready for powdercoating today.
Even fought with a snapped bolt to round out the work

NC is still having nice days so trying to take advantage working the dirty stuff outside.