What to use for rust prevention

[hodge]

Wow!! Thank you everyone for all of the information. I am going to look into a couple of those products today and see what I can get my hands on. I figure if I try to protect the surfaces a bit now, it will pay off in the long run. This ain't no little investment we have in these machines. I used to rinse down, and spray wd40 on my regular snowblowers. That seemed to work okay, but the switched to penetrating oil which gave longer protection over the summer and fall. The tunnel where the auger fan is is where I am most worried about. Also the area behind the fan, but that would require dis assembly to get to it. I will just have to rinse it as well as I can with my power washer before protecting the whole area. Again, Thanks for all of the tips.

WD40, as well as penetrating oil, evaporates and/or runs, eventually leaving the metal exposed. I don't know about the other products, but Fluid Film is lanolin, made from processing sheeps wool. It doesn't evaporate or run (once it solidifies), but it can wear off from abrasion, powerwashing, etc., and it does need to periodically (yearly) be touched up. But, it is harmless to the finish, and unlike used engine oil or gear oil, it isn't harmful to the environment.
With good products on the market, I cringe at using waste oil.

Here is one example of how you can buy Fluid Film-
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fluid-Film-...102?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25a290b396

 

[clay45]

I'm a big fan of ospho, cold-galvanizing, and denatured alcohol for surface prep and treating rusty areas. I'd sand/wire brush, pressure wash, dry and wipe down with denatured alcohol to remove as much rust and crud as possible. Then use ospho to convert remaining rust and then "prime" with cold-galvanize. Follow that with standard metal primer and color coats. After everything cures up good I'd suggest coating with something like fluid film to minimize future corrosion and maintenance. But there's always going to be some of that.