Mower Deck cleaning

Anonymous Poster · Apr 4, 2003

I've had a buildup so bad under my deck that I've had to use an air chisel to break off the dirt and grass clumps. Nothing works better! Mowing fields that have sparse weeds and a lot of dirt seem to be the worse conditions that promote a lot of buildup. BUSBOY.

dourobob · Apr 4, 2003

Interesting link - I contacted the company for suppliers in Ontario, Canada. Within 15 minutes Mike e-mailed me with a suggestion to try a John Deere dealer. I called a local dealer and they have it in stock. I e-mailed Mike back to thank him and he responded with the following tip "once you have the Slip Plate applied to your deck and it is dry, wipe it down with a cloth rag. You will see the Slip Plate start to shine up a bit. What this does is break the resin coating that will migrate to the surface during dry time and expose the graphite."

All in about 30 minutes - great customer service sure encourages me to try this Slip Plate.

Bob

Anonymous Poster · Apr 4, 2003

The Slip Plate No 1 heavy duty paint seems like a good idea and worth a try. I have also experimented with dry-film spray moly and Teflon. The moly is from Kano Labs. It does not adhere well to metal. There might be an application for it, but it's not very apparent. The same goes for the consumer grade dry-film Teflon. For the woodworkers out there, you can spray clean carbide router bits, saw blades and feed tables with the Teflon dry-film and it greatly reduces friction and burning. The film does not last long, but it helps for a while and does not stain wood. For one season I coated and maintained a 42" deck with silicon rubber (RTV). This was 25 or so years ago when RTV was new and magic. It held up for several mowings and then came off in sheets. We had a General Electric Electrak tractor many years ago and we wanted to preserve the deck. Another thought is inspired from shooting at targets stapled to 3/8", polypropylene backstops. The bullet holes seem to close back up. Even a 22-250 round will not blow a chunk out of the backstop. Why couldn't a mower deck be made out of injection molded polypropylene? Tough as nails, wouldn't rust and grass won't stick to it. GE Electrak Tractor

Anonymous Poster · Apr 4, 2003

Slip Plate at TSC

5030 · Apr 8, 2003

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I just purchased a new JD2210 with a 62"deck the old timer at the JD dealer said to coat the bottom of the deck with WD-40 to make it easer to clean off the stuck grass clippings. Has anyone else hear of this? Is there a product out there you can coat the underside of a mower deck to help with the grass removal? )</font>

We have been using Slip Plate Graphite Paint on our chutes, grain transfer carts and mower decks here for years. Slip Plate makes a sprayable coating also. The only drawback to slip plate is that you will have to re-coat every season but that gives you an excuse to grease the deck and sharpen the blades anyway. TSC has it in pints, quarts and gallons and I believe they have the spray on also. We brush it on 95% of the time. Just don't try to use the paintbrush for anything else. The slip plate will never wash out of the brush completely.

Daryl
Forage Services, L.P.

thcri · Apr 8, 2003

If you don't have a TSC you can get Slip-Plate at Graingers also. They have it in the 12oz arosole cans or the quarts and gallons.

Just got me a can ordered today to try out. If works good I will keep using it since I have had some trouble with grass build up under my mower.

murph

JimD · Apr 9, 2003

Thanks for all the information. It sounds like i will try the slip plate this year and see how it goes. Its got to be better than not putting anything on the deck..

5030 · Apr 9, 2003

Jim:

Don't forget to throw the brush away and not in the Saline river. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Daryl
Forage services, L.P.

5030 · Apr 9, 2003

Jim:

This evening I got a flyer in the Monroe Evening News for TSC and they are running a special on Spray on Slip Plate.

Daryl
Forage services, L.P.

JimD · Apr 11, 2003

To let you all know, I purchased 2 aersol cans of the Slip Plate paint last night. I sprayed it on the deck, 2 cans was just enough to cover the whole underside of a 62C" deck. Watch out for the paint fumes. I was out front of my barn and fumes were still very strong /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif I will keep you all posted on the progress/results throughout the summer cutting season. Thanks for all of the advise...