Mower deck coating

bobcat2

Tractorologist
Senior Member
Member
Hello all,

Before I completely restore my mowing deck(Sears 42"), I wanted to know what y'all use on the underside of your decks.

Please let me know if my plan is wrong...

I've already wire wheeled mine down, washed it, did some pin hole repair, wiped it down with acetone, put a coat of rust reformer on, and am ready for primer. My plan was to use a high build primer to fill in any pits to hopefully make a smoother surface that grass doesn't want to stick to, after that, I plan on using Van Sickle EZ Slide graphite paint. I have a quart of it, not sure how many coats to apply.

I'm sure all of this is pretty pointless since I'm sure we can imagine what goes on inside of a deck when we mow. All of my mowing has been with "modern" mowers, and every one required me to remove the deck every second mowing to clean them. I Imagine yard/grass type play a major role in this. My grass is thick, long, and fast growing, the bottom of my yard(1 acre) is pretty wet all day/year as it is the low spot and doesn't get much sun.

Perhaps I have a type of yard that is prone to have issues with deck clogging, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if there is something I can do to my deck now to help with it.

For reference, my current main mower is a Craftsman DGS6500 with a 54" deck, my last one was a Husqvarna YTH180 with a 42" deck, and the one before that was a Montgomery Wards ? With a 38" deck. The Montgomery Wards did the best, and I think it was because of the narrower deck, it didn't have to work the grass as far from one end to the other and only had two blades...I could be totally wrong in that theory too.

Thanks,
bobcat2
 
Your plan isn't pointless! I use a graphite based coating under my decks and it holds up amazingly well. my 72" Kubota F3060's deck after a full hard season of mowing had 95% of the coating still intact! I removed as much of the rust and scale as possible using an air powered needle/scaler, then rust converter. I didn't use any primer though, just the graphite coating over the converter, but then my deck was fairly smooth still.
I just finished a guy's Cub Cadet deck with this method after welding in lots of patches.
 
Your plan is solid.
I have an abrasive yard. Bluegrass and fescue, with a sandy soil, and no irrigation. I have parts of my yard, which are getting smaller as the years go on, that have only 65-80% coverage by vegetation. I don’t have issues with a deck clogging, I get my deck sandblasted in parts of the yard. Blades last two years, at most.
I remove the mower deck each fall, and re-paint it if necessary. Over the last 12 years, it has been every other year on average.
 
Your plan should work well Bobcat2. I have to finish rebuilding an MF610 deck before next spring. Mine had no rust to speak of but I had to weld a couple of cracks. On the outside I'm just going to use Duplicolor Ford red spraybombs as it matches MF red. I'll use an automotive etch primer first. On the underside, I've got a couple gallons of industrial two-part epoxy enamel that is made for painting underwater cast iron piping. It's brutal fumes make it an outside job so that will be the last thing before assembly when the weather is warmer!

DAC
 
I sandblasted and epoxy primer the deck then applied automotive enamel. Its holding up well. Did the same with my snowblower. Rattle can paint is too soft to stand up to the beating mower decks take. IMO
I did both about 4 years ago
Definitely better finish than factory
BTW this blower deck done 6 hours work the past week. It’s well used70C843C0-E17E-47FE-8BF9-DCD77EAC13A3.jpeg
 
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