[Farmall] Coating for grass mowers

[szabelsk at gdls.com]

The whole problem with painting the underside of a mowing deck is that 
there is constant abrasion going on when you're cutting grass. And it's 
not only from the grass. When cutting, you're actually picking up sand, 
dirt, small pebbles, etc that really wear away at whatever paint there is. 
It's only a matter of time before anything that's used is going to be worn 
away. The only way to minimize the wear is to put the hardest paint you 
can find on the bottom side of the deck. For my two cents, I'd use an 
epoxy based paint, mixed with extra hardener to make it last longer, and 
then put on two or three coats. 

Once the surface becomes abraided and grass starts to stick, that's when 
the moisture starts to take it's toll. The best way to fight that is to 
hose off the underside when you done while the grass is still wet. It'll 
come off a lot easier then when it's dry. Letting wet grass stay stuck to 
the bottom side of the deck for several days will eventually result in the 
moisture working it's way through the paint to the metal, and that's when 
the rust starts.

One thing I've been considering is to make a nylon liner for the deck. I 
figure 1/16 to 1/8 nylon sheet should be easy to cut and weld together. It 
should provide good wear and would help keep the paint from wearing away. 
Should last a few years to, so it might be worthwhile. I'm considering 
doing this over this coming winter when I plan to tear the Cub apart and 
give it a new paint job.  I'll give the mower a new coat of paint while 
I'm at it, and fix some of the little things that need attention.

Carl Szabelski



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