Mower Decks

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xPosTech

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I've got several decks I'm getting ready for the upcoming season. I'm a little undecided (as usual:confused: ) about what to use on the cutting area. I'm considering truck bed liner, POR15, epoxy, Rustoleum, deck paint and just plain cooking spray. Since I never built my powder coat oven that's out for now.:pat:

Do you have a special coating you use on your deck that will last a full 9 or 10 month cutting season? Some say they use nothing...or just spray with silicone or Pam when they sharpen blades. I suspect they don't have to deal with the sandy partially bare spots I run into, to say nothing of sometimes having to cut wet grass.

I'm leaning toward Duplicolor bed liner. Herculiner is about the same price, but I've only found it in gallons, not quarts. I would rather use all of a small container instead of resealing a large one.

If you have some direct experience please relate.

Hey Doc I see you put the :starbucks: right next to the :puke1: . Freudian?

Ted
 
LOL funny Ted. It must've been Freudian slip. :starbucks: :puke1: :yum: :yum:

I do nothing to the underside of mine. I've read but not confirmed that some of the bed liners that leave a rough finish can affect the air flow created by the blades and actually cause problems for getting the grass out of there. This was a post by someone else on another forum (a few years ago I should add) but I patted myself on the back for doing nothing and it reinforced my 'do nothing' approach. :hide:
 
I have found that anything I do just wears off.
Your best bet is just to keep the deck as clean as you can. I generally scrape out the built up grass once a month or so.
90% of the time I mow the grass is wet, and the decks sit often. I have yet to have a deck rust though.
 
Duplicolor Bedliner will flake off pretty quick.

I bought some Graphite spray and did one of my decks but I'm not sure it made that much difference.

I found scraping the deck immediately after mowing to be the easiest. The grass and dirt is still soft and hasn't dried on.
 
I power-wash my equipment regularly.

As I remember from my dad's and grandad's farm equipment when I was a kid, and something I'm dealing with on the '65 C-10 I'm trying to get roadworthy, is that the greatest harm comes from dirt and grass holding moisture in the corners and crevices.

Beyond that, I don't worry about it.

Mark
_____________________________
There's two things you have to watch out for during this political season: Politicians that preach, and preachers that politic.
 
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I've used Herculiner on a neighbors Craftsman 42" mower deck. I was very impressed with how tough the stuff is. And how long it's lasted considering she drives it over her gravel drive with the blades operating.

I have since had it back in my shop (new muffler) and looked at the underside very carefully....amazing! It was here originally because of a pulley alignment problem and I decided to experiement with the bedliner and applied it after some welding. Now that it was back in the shop (a full season later) it is in remarkably good condition. No chips, cracks or loss of adhesion.

It does rust-proff the entire underside
It does cut the blade noise down consderably
It does (I'm convinced anyway) extend the life of the deck assembly
It does NOT make the underside any easier to clean.
 
Thanks for the input guys.

Mark I assume you sprayed the Herculiner on. How many coats did it take? Did you sandblast first or just use a wire brush wheel?

I have a couple of paint guns but not a paint booth or dedicated hoses, etc. I worry about water and oil contamination so I'd probably roll it on.

Ed thanks for the links. I've been to the POR15 site. We have a distributor here in town.

As far as coatings disrupting air flow, I mulch almost exclusively. Turbulence in the deck seems like it would be a good thing.:smile:

When I do have to cut wet grass, I've used the water hose cleanout port on the Toro. Clean out on the grass, then move to the driveway and spin the blades a minute or two to dry. (I guess that would be the "spin dry" cycle.:brows: ...:hangingclothes: :notthatway: ) It does clean the deck. Squeaky clean. Then hose down the HUGE clump of green muck from the grass.

Doug, this one's for you: Home Snow Making Machines

Ted
 
Ted, I haven't sprayed the underside of the decks with anything. But the decks I'm talking about are on a 3ph Landpride finish mower and a LP bushog.
Mark
 
xPosTech said:
Thanks for the input guys.

Mark I assume you sprayed the Herculiner on. How many coats did it take? Did you sandblast first or just use a wire brush wheel?

I have a couple of paint guns but not a paint booth or dedicated hoses, etc. I worry about water and oil contamination so I'd probably roll it on.



Ted
Click to expand...

Ted,

I used phosphoric acid (Rust Mort, POR 15, Rust Cure all the same based) after a wire wheel on 4 1/2" grinder. Let the phosphoric acid cure for two days, applied Hurculiner with a roller and brush. I have a body Shtuz gun for undercoating and heavy viscosity liquids...but I didn't want to spend an hour applying and two hours cleaning up. I just tossed the stuff away and be done with it.
 
Mark777 said:
Ted,

I used phosphoric acid (Rust Mort, POR 15, Rust Cure all the same based) after a wire wheel on 4 1/2" grinder. Let the phosphoric acid cure for two days, applied Hurculiner with a roller and brush. I have a body Shtuz gun for undercoating and heavy viscosity liquids...but I didn't want to spend an hour applying and two hours cleaning up. I just tossed the stuff away and be done with it.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mark. I've already picked up chip brushes and some 3" throwaway roller pans and rollers. I'm gonna do this when I can look forward to a few days of low humidity.:waiting: Maybe Jay can help me out. :biggrin:

Ted
 
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