4xbill Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 I decided to tear down a 48 in deck I got with one of my 5216's. The guy I got it from said he didn't use it and it just sat in his yard. It sat flat, so it made a nice catch basin for rain. The spindles turn free, the rollers are in good shape. After disassembling it and wire wheeling it, I stopped and wondered if I should even bother. There are only a few small holes. I can weld in some patches for those. But there is ALOTXX( of pitting. What do you guys think? Is this deck worth it? Will it last afterwards? Opinions? Ideas? I don't want to sink too much $$ into this. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayS Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Wow! it`s amazing what water and a little time will do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RHA Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Hi Bill, I had a deck that was in the same shape:(I striped it down welded my patches on and bought some Por Patch and silver paint from the POR 15 web sight.Every year I paint the inside of the deck and the silver paint is still there,even after wire brushing it.I'ts been three years,it's rust free the POR PATCH hasn't cracked.The paint and the POR PATCH isn't cheap,but it's alot cheaper than a new deck shell!!IMO Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDB Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Bill, here is a project that I did last winter. http://simpletractors.com/club34/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=60662#top So far the the one deck that I put together is holding up very well.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcw06 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Pitting won't hurt a thing.Patch it as needed and go over it again with the wire wheel just before you are ready to paint.Blow it off and start applying primer and paint.Rust needs moisture to live.The paint will seal it and keep the rust at bay for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ketchamized Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Bill, It generally looks to be solid. But I personally am fussy about how far gone something is before restoring it. I personally wouldn't bother with it in that condition. But here's an idea: Maybe you could just patch it up, paint it with thick and hard paint... And install gator blades, modify the deck so it'd work ideally... In a brush. Use (abuse) it whenever you needed to cut tall grass/weeds/small trees/stony areas. Or, you could just toss the deck and keep the good working parts in case your good deck breaks. That's what I'd do... In my honest opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPH Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 I'd say with some rust treatment "rust kill" it could be a useable deck. I wouldn't mess with a "restore" finish myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haykarenhardy Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 I purchased a 7116 two years ago from a man who fixed up simplicity's for years, he was about 86 at the time. He had about 6 or seven tractors . When he repaired the deck on the 7116 he coated the deck with fiberglass resin (he did this to all of his simplicity's) and used the tractor for a few years to mow his lawn. When I got the tractor most of the fiberglass was gone. I re-coated the deck but have not used the tractor much to mow lawn, it came with a snow blade which was what I wanted. If you patch the deck to make it sound, you could use fiberglass to smooth the deck as the grass will not stick (much) to the fiberglass, but you may need to re-coat in a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ketchamized Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Bill, Saw this in the classifeds, this might tickle your fancy. It's a brand new deck shell. http://cgi.ebay.com/SIMPLICITY-42-INCH-DECK-SHELL-1685281-BRAND-NEW_W0QQitemZ200084168905QQihZ010QQcategoryZ82242QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveL Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Similar pitting on mine. I still got a lot more life out of it (not used last year) Was strong --but I just watched it carefully and kept it more clean than usual. Amazing quality. How many other co's decks could be "pitted" rather than just rust right out?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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