Jump to content

Unofficial Home of Old Simplicity & Allis-Chalmers Garden Tractors

Painting Tractors


Allis_914_Owner

Recommended Posts

The post with a member's dismay at the slow curing of Valspar Tractor and Implement paint (in a spray can) prompted me to wonder what most people here are using to paint their tractors when they restore/rehab their machines. I frequent the website www.owwm.org, where people rehab and use old woodworking machinery, and the topic of paint prep, materials, and techniques comes up a lot there, with a few long threads nicely summarizing many of the techniques and most popular/readily available materials. It looks like the Valspar Tractor and Implement Paint is a favorite among many users, with some using the spray cans, and others with spray equipment using the canned version with the hardener. I'm surprised no one uses Sherwin Williams Industrial Enamel at least from my search results). It's a common paint used in restoring old woodworking machinery, is a little cheaper than the Valspar, and you can get it in custom colors with no questions asked. I started spraying Sherwin Williams All Surface Enamel (water based) a few years ago on furniture to get away from the spray cans, which I felt were expensive, gave poor control on coating, and were just too slow on big items like cabinets, etc. I also wanted to reduce the voc's, simplify cleanup, and pay as little as possible for solvents needed if I was going to get into an HVLP unit, so here's what I did: (1) I purchased an HVLP gun from Harbor Freight (they have a bunch of them, but the #43430 gun gets praise from a lot of hot rod builders who work on the cheap). Figure $40 for this purchase; you can often get them on sale for less. This website gives you enough information to get started http://www.purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/techinfo/HVLPspraygun.html . (2) I use a small compressor. I started out with a pancake compressor, which was too small for big jobs, but worked reasonably well for small items. I currently use a 13 gallon Campbell Hausfeld compressor that I bought used, and it works very well. I'll eventually work up to a big oilless compressor, but that is not necessary to get good results. (3) I got a respirator with the right filters. This is IMPORTANT to me. (4) I started using Sherwin Williams All Surface Enamel (wb)("ASE"), as recommended to me from other woodworkers in small production shops. Benjamin Moore Satin Impervo (wb) was also mentioned, as is the Sherwin Williams ProClassic (only available in certain colors). My last gallon of ASE was $36 a week or so ago with a cash account at Sherwin Williams. For painting old machinery, I didn't want to use oil based paints if I could keep from it. Water-based finishes have come a long way in recent years, and a lot of high end car paints are now two part urethane (water based). I personally don't see the need for getting an automotive quality finish on my tractor or old "arn" machines, but I do want a nice finish with little hassle, and good longevity. When I saw that some people were painting metal exterior doors and metal roofs with the Sherwin Williams DTM acrylic enamel (wb)with better longevity results than their oil based counterparts, I decided to give it a shot on my most recent rehab of a DeWalt Radial Arm saw. http://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?t=2075&highlight=sherwin+williams+dtm and http://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?t=29505&highlight=sherwin+williams+dtm are some discussions I read when making my decision. I'm leaning toward using this paint or Sher-Cryl when I decide to rehab my Allis, but I need to use the Allis this summer for tilling, so that project is currently on the backburner. To my mind, a tractor paint job doesn't need to look like a hot rod paint job, but I want it to look pretty good, protect well, and be as cheap and easy as possible. We're not asking too much, right? So, that's a long story to invite others to talk about how they've painted/rehabbed their tractors, and what their preferences and experiences have been as far as paint and paint prep. I know we have a lot of ex-autobody shop guys here, so I'd love to get their input on options for those of us who are garage tinkerer types, and I'd love to see a photo from someone who can lay down a perfect paint job with a brush (I can't; I've tried and failed miserably). This could be a great thread for first time rehabbers to decide how they want to navigate their way down the slippery slope of tractor ownership.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a great idea, thanks for sharing and starting this discussion. Please let me know if this is off topic for your intended conversation - I will edit, delete or post elsewhere if you like: As a newcomer to the tractor scene, this paint conversation would be very helpful and could save a lot of headache. I'm getting close to deciding on paint and was hoping to get a better clarification on the different white/cream colors used on these tractors. It's a little confusing because it looks like these cream-ish colors may have changed over the years and with the fading on my tractors, I'm not sure where or how to start color matching. Also, my 727 Broadmoor appears to have cream wheels and an off-white accent on the body, so it looks like there's three different colors to deal with - yikes! I urge others to join in, this could save all of us a lot of time and money!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just as an add-on to this discussion, below are a few links to previous threads on paint. One is on spray paint vs using a spray gun http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22447 with another on paint selection and colors for matching various tractors http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=77887 I think some of your questions might be partially added there, Vassal. If you are not a club member, a $10/year contribution gets you access to the above links (they are in the technical tips section). Hopefully this helps, as the search function here is really slow.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:
Originally posted by Allis_914_Owner
Just as an add-on to this discussion, below are a few links to previous threads on paint. One is on spray paint vs using a spray gun (http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22447), with another on paint selection and colors for matching various tractors (http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=77887). I think some of your questions might be partially added there, Vassal.
I spent many months researching colors and here is a link to where I list the 6 different shades of orange and 3 shades of cream used for Simplicity tractors over the years. It also lists paint codes for having them custom mixed. http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=101422 Doug
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I painted this 2110 with Magic brand AC orange.It's a farm tractor paint, bought at a local farm store, Rural King. It has nice shine, went on nice with a spray gun, overall, a decent paint. Only drawback was it took several hours to dry.

I also paint a lot of older refrigerators. There, I use RustOLeum, thru a spray gun, thinned with acetone. Gives a nice shine, easy to spray, and clean up ain't too bad. I even painted my 91 Dakota with RustOLeum black.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love the strobe stripe on your 2110 dOd How does the thinned Rustoleum do as far as orange peeling goes? Also, do you have a ballpark mix ratio for the acetone to paint? Thanks for sharing, both of your machines looks great.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I definitly noticed, when I painted up my 3012, that the wheels were not the same white as on the tractor. Rustoleum antique white is very close to the original wheel color *note: the inside of the wheel when I tool off the original tires did not have a speck of rust and the paint was definitely protected from the sun and weather. The closest I could come up with for the tractor tin, from a very good patch of paint on the inside/underside of the dash panel, was "Ivory". For the earliest Simplicities you can't get closer than Ford Vermillion Red/ Poppy Red, etc.. It's had different names over the years but is the same code PPG-60449, Ford 2A in 72'. Unfortunately you can't buy it in a spray can. [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/kismar/3012H/20080818_00016.jpg[/IMG] When I was getting paint for my 3012 I considered, and even test sprayed a piece, the latex acrylic enamel paint. It was not bad but I figured I didn't want to chance it so I went with the above. I may have to try it on a deck or something I have coming up for painting. I used Rustoleum/acetone on a snowblower I painted (mixed about 2:1 paint:acetone, If crs hasn't clouded my memory:() and it came out very nice, super hard and didn't take very long to dry.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really don't have a set mixing ratio with RustOLeum, just til it shoots "right" out of the gun. Not much problem with orange peel.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Well, Sherwin Williams hasn't been the most helpful in matching the orange in their water-based DTM product. I brought the deck belt cover in to have them match it. The guy behind the counter said it would be tricky, and that he would need to keep it to work on it the next day (huh?). Then, after leaving it with him, he called back and said that it was too bright an orange to tint without adding so much tint that the paint would be compromised. I called another Sherwin Williams store to see if they could match the Allis Chalmers orange . . . he acted like he had never heard of it (I live in Indiana--you have to live in a cave not to know about farm equipment here). When I gave him the paint codes for the sherwin williams lines of alkyd enamels that they term "Allis Chalmers Orange", he couldn't find it and wasn't willing to say that he could tink the DTM paint properly. This sounds bizarre to me. Has anyone else tried to use a WB acrylic enamel? What brand did you use, and do you have a code for it?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You shouldn't blame Sherwin Williams for the lazy incompetence of an untrained sales people in an independently owned store. It is quite obvious that neither sales person knew what they were doing.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:
Originally posted by UCD
You shouldn't blame Sherwin Williams for the lazy incompetence of an untrained sales people in an independently owned store.
Well, I have no idea if either of them are a company owned or independently owned store, but in either case, Sherwin Williams did license the name and set out the standards by which those "untrained sales people" are trained to sell the Sherwin Williams product. Since the lousy help is being given under their name, I think it's fair to blame them. Regardless, as it stands, it doesn't look like I'll be using their product, as my most recent message from the guy has directed me to one of their automotive paint stores. Tractor Supply, here I come.
quote:
It is quite obvious that neither sales person knew what they were doing.
No argument there.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...