Sandblasting a riding lawnmower cutting deck ?

[Scottintexas]

A few years back I saved a riding lawn mower from the junk pile, I'm glad to report it's still working hard but it's getting time for some more love,

https://jetboaters.net/threads/fixing-a-john-deere-155c-riding-lawn-mower-riding-lawn-mowers.10196/page-2

The cutting deck is starting to get a lot of surface rust, the underside has no paint or protective coating, the top side paint is really starting to flake off, some surface rust and small pitting but still mechanically sound and solid.

I was thinking of sanding/painting the deck to help it's life expectancy. One of the things I thought was to sandblast it or just get a wire wheel on a drill and let my daughter go to town for a few hours.

Any recommendations ? ? Including it's all a waste of time, your spray can primer/paint isn't going to last, just let it rust out and replace it,

@Babin Farms @zipper

 

[zipper]

It depends on how pretty you want the final finish. I have used rust inhibiting paints for years up here. I used this as a 1 step not 3 it works well with some prep. Not cheap. https://por15.com/products/3-step-stop-rust-system?utm_medium=adwords&utm_campaign=&utm_source=&utm_content=476139800779&utm_term=rust inhibitor paint&gclid=Cj0KCQiAkZKNBhDiARIsAPsk0WgyaZBcYyOm05J-jpvBCnmzU3zuSNcHdcc792XeST8jMzuFLH-e3w4aAlwFEALw_wcB

You can finish up with green John Deere paint over it. Actually, I think the decks are yellow. You will need to put something over it to provide UV protection.

 

[mrcleanr6]

I am a automotive and marine painter. Couple things. From a professional standpoint por15 is bad news….sort of. You cant believe the bs they are selling where you can just remove the loose rust with a wire wheel and paint over it and all is fine. If you do that then the rust just festers under the coating and in alot of cases it makes matters worse. You cannot in anyway paint over rust and expect it to not come back. There is no magic coating that lets you paint over rust. With that said if you blast it and get it 100% clean then for an over the counter product a few coats of por will work way better than any rattle can paint. Its a moisture cure urethane and cures out rock hard. If your going to rattle can it then ill tell you dont bother wasting your time. If it comes from a rattle can then its crap. The proper way to do it is blast it the epoxy prime it. You can leave it in epoxy since that is a waterproof coating bit if you want it a color then you would apply a single stage polyurethane over the epoxy.

 

[AZMark]

If you sandblast and use decent paint on the outside it will be worth the effort.
I don’t really think the inside would, that paint is going to be gone within a couple mows. Maybe just spray that down with silicone or something once in a while.

 

[2kwik4u]

If it was me.....I would strip the deck down of all mechanical pieces/parts. Then I would sandblast it. Then I would powdercoat it. Then reassemble and use for another 10+ years. You can probably find a local place that will strip/coat the deck for you for under $100.

 

[AZMark]

If it was me.....I would strip the deck down of all mechanical pieces/parts. Then I would sandblast it. Then I would powdercoat it. Then reassemble and use for another 10+ years. You can probably find a local place that will strip/coat the deck for you for under $100.

That’s a good point. I had a rear end on my car done a couple years ago and it was $85 to blast it and coat it black. It would have been more with a custom color where they wouldn’t have been able to just add it to an existing batch.

 

[mrcleanr6]

Powder is a good way to go however you really need to watch your ass. There is next to no profit in powdercoating so most coaters will not prep correctly if at all. They tell you they will blast it but end up not doing anything or a real crap blast job. As long as they blast it and get it perfectly clean then it will be good to go

 

[Babin Farms]

A few years back I saved a riding lawn mower from the junk pile, I'm glad to report it's still working hard but it's getting time for some more love,

https://jetboaters.net/threads/fixing-a-john-deere-155c-riding-lawn-mower-riding-lawn-mowers.10196/page-2

The cutting deck is starting to get a lot of surface rust, the underside has no paint or protective coating, the top side paint is really starting to flake off, some surface rust and small pitting but still mechanically sound and solid.

I was thinking of sanding/painting the deck to help it's life expectancy. One of the things I thought was to sandblast it or just get a wire wheel on a drill and let my daughter go to town for a few hours.

Any recommendations ? ? Including it's all a waste of time, your spray can primer/paint isn't going to last, just let it rust out and replace it,

@Babin Farms @zipper

I tried painting the underside of my mowing deck due to the same issues and it was mostly pointless. I had some leftover Rustoleum & brushed it on thick but after the first mow with it there were areas that were down to bare metal already. The best thing that one can do for keeping the underside from rusting away is to just clean the deck as often as possible.
For the top of the deck I would probably just clean up the best you can and hit it with a good paint & hardener.

 

[biffdotorg]

I hear ya, I have an old beast Exmark, that I want to live forever. It has a true 72" welded deck, not those crappy stamped decks. But it is in need of some love.

I just had it in for an O2 sensor (yup, the old animal is EFI) but other than that, oil changes and filters, and belt, and a tire, and a hub. You get the idea. But this winter I would like to touch up the paint and recover the seat. Damn suspension seats are over $1,000!! So a recover is in order.

You have inspired me. Now I may have to use my wife's sandblaster and go at that deck.

 

[biffdotorg]

And yes, that pic is from my evening in the shop installing the cube lights. (deer shining lights) When it's dark from 5pm to 8am, you gotta have some lights to get 10 acres done.

 

[Marvin willis]

I don’t understand why ppls lawn mowers rust out. I live near the beach. My mower is 11 years old and spent a week under water when our house flooded during Florence and it still looks new