Take it all off

[PineRidge]

Last fall I purchased a used Myers snowplow that was mated to the TC-40D for snow removal duty. I didn't spend a lot of time making it look nice since the main priority was to find out 1st how well it worked.

Since it performed well last winter I decided that it was now time to disassemble, take all the years of rust off the plow, prime, paint, and re-assemble the plow to make it ready for the years to come. Thought you might like to follow along with the progress.

Here is a picture of the front and backside of the plow just as it was purchased last fall.

 

[PineRidge]

The method that we chose to use to remove the rust was electrolysis. I started by making a swimming pool out of three 2" X 8" X 8' pieces of lumber. The pool ended up as a finished size of 4' x 8' and I merely positioned it on our concrete apron. It was then covered with visqueen plastic sheeting and filled with tap water. Then we mixed in 3 boxes of Arm & Hammer washing soda, not baking soda.

As the plow parts are submerged in the pool we connect the negative lead from a 12 volt battery charger to the part needing to be stripped of the rust and the positive lead to pieces of rebar that will attract & collect the rust. Anode/cathode principle. The bubbles that you see in the tank are explosive, flammable hydrogen gas so use caution, don't smoke, and please do this outdoors!

You can read more about the process here.

 

[PineRidge]

Parts go in nasty, rusty, and come out looking like new.

The best part about this is no sanding or scraping is needed and once the process has finished it is self terminating. No base metal is destroyed or damaged.

 

[PineRidge]

Here's the plow face going in the soup, and now still cooking.

BTW: If you're wondering why the wood is floating in the soup, I recommend setting metal parts down on a piece of plywood so something sharp doesn't accidentally puncture the plastic allowing the mixture to leak out.

 

[MrJimi]

I'll bet its a serious good driveway cleaner too.
I need to get your recipe from you sometime, Great job, make sure you use a kick butt real good primer and rinse these parts real good.
Jim

 

[3RRL]

Another VERY interesting post Mike. That is a great idea. Do you suppose it would work for some of those really rusty antique plows and things I see on people's back yards or farm lots?

 

[PineRidge]

I'll bet its a serious good driveway cleaner too.
I need to get your recipe from you sometime, Great job, make sure you use a kick butt real good primer and rinse these parts real good.
Jim

Jimi I heard once done you can pour the rusty water right on the grass. It's iron rich and the grass is supposed to love it. Don't know what effect the washing soda will have but I'll let you know once it hits our grass.

 

[PineRidge]

Another VERY interesting post Mike. That is a great idea. Do you suppose it would work for some of those really rusty antique plows and things I see on people's back yards or farm lots?

Rob while this process won't replace the metal that's already eaten away by rust it will remove the rust itself so well that taking a rusted implement apart should be a whole lot easier.

This electrolysis isn't my idea but nevertheless I thought you all might get a kick out of seeing it actually put to good use.

 

[Bluecheck546]

Great job PineRidge! I'm learning something new everyday.... Thanks and good luck with your project.

 

[kennyd]

Man that is cool, now I will have to do my plow

About how long do the pieces take in the bath?