Painting(?) 3 point parts

[dnw64]

I broke the casting on the 3 point tilt adjust arm and bought a new one. It came in unpainted. Was planning to just wipe down with alcohol or so, then prime and paint with Rustoleum spray. But I'm wondering if the original was powder coated - it gets a fair amount of exposure and "abuse"...

Or am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?

 

[George2615]

I use rustoleum on implements and parts but I brush it on instead of spray. I think it lasts longer.

 

[atsah]

I would prime it. I heat it with a propane torch til it's nice and warm and spray it.

 

[ArlyA]

If the manufacture left oil on it, alcohol will not cut it. Use paint thinner, or better yet, a mixture of thinner and acetone. Just for cleaning parts I keep a bottle of that handy with a 30/70 mix of that. The paint thinner is the 70% part and I also wear gloves handling it.

 

[crashz]

Same here, but I usually use brake cleaner on a cotton rag to clean a part before painting (rattle can or brush). Paint will at least be able to be touched up. TS usually carries rattle cans with tractor paints that match pretty well.

I've also never knew that 3pt hitch equipment should be dry, so I liberally apply Fluid Film to the hitch components. So I wash and re-lube pretty regularly that that helps to keep the rust down and the paint on.

 

[dnw64]

I would prime it. I heat it with a propane torch til it's nice and warm and spray it.

If the manufacture left oil on it, alcohol will not cut it. Use paint thinner, or better yet, a mixture of thinner and acetone. Just for cleaning parts I keep a bottle of that handy with a 30/70 mix of that. The paint thinner is the 70% part and I also wear gloves handling it.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[ArlyA]

I like to warm up parts before painting like atsah. I found those 1500watt (give or take) heat guns would quite well for that and lots of other little jobs around the shop as well.

I would prime it. I heat it with a propane torch til it's nice and warm and spray it.

 

[oosik]

I find acetone works well for cleaning oily, greasy parts. It is carcinogenic - wear gloves.

 

[lakeside]

A bit off topic.

I remove my B26 BH every fall and install a Pronovost snowblower. The blower is the only three point attachment I have so I sometimes go up to six months between installing and removing the three point hitch. After wasting time remembering what goes where, and which end is which, I decided to colour code the ends of all the parts. Installing my three point hitch is now almost idiot proof :laughing:. Red goes to red, yellow goes to yellow etc.

 

[atsah]

I like to warm up parts before painting like atsah. I found those 1500watt (give or take) heat guns would quite well for that and lots of other little jobs around the shop as well.

Yes I have a nice Porter Cable 1500 watt that works as well..

 

[ArlyA]

I'm not certain of the model, but i have three heat guns by Porter Cable.

Yes I have a nice Porter Cable 1500 watt that works as well..

 

[dnw64]

A bit off topic.

I remove my B26 BH every fall and install a Pronovost snowblower. The blower is the only three point attachment I have so I sometimes go up to six months between installing and removing the three point hitch. After wasting time remembering what goes where, and which end is which, I decided to colour code the ends of all the parts. Installing my three point hitch is now almost idiot proof :laughing:. Red goes to red, yellow goes to yellow etc.

:thumbsup:

 

[dnw64]

I do have a heat gun available, which I (now) intend to implement. Not sure of the output but assume it's near the max since my Son bought it...:laughing:

 

[atsah]

but assume it's near the max since my Son bought it...:laughing:

:laughing:

I find heating the metal makes the paint stick better, smoother, adhere better and dries quicker..

 

[dnw64]

I used mineral spirits to clean the parts, scuffed with a 220 grit foam pad, then warmed, primed and painted all within about an hour. Leaving the stuff to sit overnight to ensure the paint gets a good cure.

Side topic - that cylindrical part pictured in the OP has internal threads at both ends where the upper and lower part of the lift arm go.

The bottom lift arm has a hole cross drilled with a pin in it, so that you can't accidentally unscrew the assembly too far and let it fall off. The guy at the dealer told me it was going to be a pain to line it up with the grease fitting hole and tap it fully inside the threads so that it could be removed.

I tried for a while and finally gave up. I figured that I could unscrew it as far as I could, then cut off the central body and screw the "bolt" back in all the way (which would be above the cut off body) to remove the pin.

So I did, and I did. But I discovered that there was no way I was ever going to have done it the way I was trying. I thought the pin was, say 1/8" shorter than the diameter of the bolt, and it was installed so that it stuck out enough to prevent unscrewing the bolt. Therefore one would need to tap it back in from the side it was sticking out.

Turns out that, while it is a standard roll pin, it's a loose fit in the hole, and is about 1/4" longer than the diameter of the pin. The only way to get it out would be to line it up with the grease fitting hole and somehow get it to "fall" out. However, since everything is caked with grease, I don't see that ever happening unless maybe you heated the whole thing up enough to melt the grease. Or, maybe (just maybe) if you put a tiny hook on the end of a very thin wire, and you could thread it through the center of the roll pin, you could catch the far end and pull it out.