Mowing Deck Maintenance

[Tacey 0]

Hi all: I know this is a 'Power Eqiuipment 101' question, but I didn't find anything on the site to answer it... What's the best & easiest way to keep a mowing deck from rusting out underneath? I've been cleaning it (scraping stuck-on grass and dirt) and I came across the beginnings of the rust worm. Must I repaint or will just cleaning & oiling the surface do? I'd like to keep this tractor going for a while (a 1978 model deserves some extra care!) because I just bought it a few months ago, it's new to me.. Thanks. Tacey

[BillC 0]

You may want to consider (2) products, corroless rust stabilizer from Eastwood Company (www.eastwoodcompany.com) or POR-15, www.por15.com Other alternatives include powdercoat and e-coat and I want to check out a local bed liner company. I am told they can spray bedliner without the friction additive.

[srwven 0]

Last spring I bought a 7014 (1977). It had some significant rust on it. Luckily, the decks from this period are heavy guage metal. What I did to ensure many more years of service was take the deck apart and take the shell to a local sand blaster. He charged me $20 to blast it. There was no rust left and only a few areas had been blasted "thin" and these were very small areas. I patched these areas with a metal patch material (I have hear JBweld works well). I then primed it well with Rust-oleum rusty metal primer and painted it with Simplicity orange. I just took the deck off in the fall to clean it-the paint held up well and there is no rust. I plan on keeping this beast for a long time, so I will always take the deck off yearly to clean/lube.

[Kent 436]

You need to remove the rust and paint it. Oil won't protect it well enough. I'd use something like a rotary wire brush on your drill and knock the rust off. If there's some remaining that you can't get to, use a rust conversion product to chemically neutralize the rust. Then paint it with a good quality rust preventative paint. I use Rustoleum in the quart cans, and brush it on heavy. I've heard good things about a Teflon coating called Slip-Plate though I've never used it.

[Tacey 0]

Thanks for the input, all. I ordered Corroless from Eastwood today, to try it. I used POR 15 before on a car, & it seemed OK, but I sold the car before I could evaluate the durability. Tacey

[JohnN 0]

The deck will be the next to get it, but when I got my 7010 (soon to be a 7012) the entire underside was rusted, along with the inside of the "steering pedistol" where the gas tank and battery are. I sand blasted the areas well and under coated them with underbody coating. It looks great! this spring the tractor gets the paint job and the engine (also a rewire, for the new to me Kohler). Right now it's sitting in the garage in underbody coating and prime. When I'm done I'll take pictures. In a couple of years I'll let ya'll know how it's holding up. John