Rattlecan Painted my 855

[TractorGuy]

Wife bought me some new hood decals and a front lens for Christmas. She didn't understand you can't just stick new stuff on an old faded tractor. I put them on the shelf till I could get around to painting it.

I used the Rustoleum brand Farm Equipment paint in aerosol cans. Took 4 cans of green and 2 cans of yellow with a little left over from each color. I wet sanded the whole thing with 320 grit and wiped it down with rubbing alcohol right before spraying it. I am very impressed with how the paint went on and looked. Rustoleum dries slow so you need a bright sunny day to use it or it will remain tacky too long. I have tried using it in the garage a couple of times and it will stay tacky for 2 days or longer depending on the weather but in 90* sunlight it will cure in a few hours. The upside however is it doesn't dry so fast you get those dry streaks like you do using fast drying aerosol paints.

Tip: If you paint your tractor make sure to have compressed air available to blow out the grill while it's wet. Paint will dull a little but it keeps it from clogging the holes. Mine had been painted before I got it and 50% of the grill holes were clogged. Took several sandblastings and some digging with a sharp object to get most of the holes open before I repainted it.

Here are before pics.

And here it is during the process

And the final product

 

[beenthere]

Can't beat JD paint, as the other wannabe's are only that. Just sayin...

 

[kebo]

It looks great!!! I'm the same way, if I were going to repaint my 790, I would have to do it like you did and disassemble as much as is practical. I hate seeing tractors that have EVERYTHING painted all one color, including the wiring. I know some of it can't be helped, but a lot of it can be removed, covered up, or masked off before it's painted IF you just take the time to do it right.

 

[TractorGuy]

I thought I would update this with a photo I took today. A year and a half later and I am still pleased with the results. Shows a little wear on the foot boards and has some scratches but otherwise it's held up pretty good. Tractor is stored outside under a carport.

 

[Catman8]

Looks good, nothing like new paint to make things look more appealing. I bought paint from JD until one day I found out that rustoleum had JD colors and tractor supply also sold JD colors in their brand of paint. Less than half the price, I tried them both and they worked fine, good color match. Your right about rustoleum taking for ever to dry, and I mean months. Anyway nice looking paint job:thumbsup:

 

[beenthere]

Catman8
Maybe a good color match at first blush, but you will not see a long-lasting match, I am sure of that. Hang tight...

 

[larboc]

John Deere doesn't make paint, they buy it from valspar. Good stuff but the JD name adds "green paint price".

I've had awesome luck with Rustoleum gloss black paint standing up, never used the JD colors.

I've used the tractor supply brand JD yellow Majic paint on my snowblower and it faded badly in a few months in the sun. I rolled the Majic JD green on my loader bucket and cab and it didn't fade at all and is rock hard and glossy (used the hardener they sell with it). Took a month to fully dry but I just wanted something to keep the bucket from rusting.

 

[Catman8]

Catman8
Maybe a good color match at first blush, but you will not see a long-lasting match, I am sure of that. Hang tight...

I painted my quick hitch with JD yellow and my ratchet top link with tractor supply JD yellow, I'll keep an eye on both of them to see witch one fades, sounds like you have found out first hand. It sure would be nice if spray paint in a rattle can would dry as hard as auto paint

 

[larboc]

I painted my quick hitch with JD yellow and my ratchet top link with tractor supply JD yellow, I'll keep an eye on both of them to see witch one fades, sounds like you have found out first hand. It sure would be nice if spray paint in a rattle can would dry as hard as auto paint

If it's the Majic brand spray paint, it will be faded and chalky in 2 months of direct sunlight. BTDT.

The Majic roll on with hardener gets really hard and glossy though and doesn't seem to fade. Took months to get good and hard though.

 

[BigDog1956]

Looks good, nothing like new paint to make things look more appealing. I bought paint from JD until one day I found out that rustoleum had JD colors and tractor supply also sold JD colors in their brand of paint. Less than half the price, I tried them both and they worked fine, good color match. Your right about rustoleum taking for ever to dry, and I mean months. Anyway nice looking paint job:thumbsup:

Long cure time in can's is because there's no hardner in it,