bill6
Silver Member
...A few days ago I brought home a brand new Howse 500c 5-ft rotary cutter for use behind my Mahindra 2415. I'm rather particular about cosmetics, so even being "new", a clean-up seemed in order.
Evidently, the people responsible for shipping, handling, and assembly/set-up of these "bush-hogs" tend to be somewhat careless in terms of keeping the paint looking nice. In this case, my dealer had 5 to choose from, and I chose the best one. Still, there were several scratches and paint nicks!
I brought the implement into my heated garage and worked on it several hours each night this week, much to the dislike of the wife. (I work 8:30 to 5:30 at the office)
First, I rubbed out the paint by hand with Mcguire's fine-cut cleaner. It brought out a much better shine, removing most of the haze or cloudiness. Then I degreased by wiping every scratch and nick, with Isopropyl alcohol, in preparation for painting. Then I loosely masked off each small area I was going to touch-up. (about 10 areas in all). Then I bought a can of Massey-Ferguson Red. I carefully sprayed 4 very light coats, with 10-minutes drying time between coats. After removing the masking tape, it looked pretty good. The next evening I "blended in" the paint areas, by again using the rubbing compound.
Next, I applied 2 coats of car wax to the entire surface, including mounting brackets and gear box case. After buffing off the wax, it really looks beautiful! My wife was wondering what in the world I was doing out in the garage....
Next I safely blocked the big deck up off the ground. I crawled under, and applied car wax to the entire underside, and blades. Then I sprayed a product called "Mo-Deck" to the underside. It's a no-stick spray that enhances the ability to clean the deck later; usually the grass & weed build-up will just hose off. Then I adjusted and greased the PTO driveline, checked the oil in the gearbox, and finally greased and cleaned the tailwheel.
There.....now I have a beautiful, NEW Rotary Cutter, ready to go to work. It was a total of 10 hrs work, but hopefully worth it. Unfortunately, my wife invited me to stay out there and sleep with the tractor.......
Evidently, the people responsible for shipping, handling, and assembly/set-up of these "bush-hogs" tend to be somewhat careless in terms of keeping the paint looking nice. In this case, my dealer had 5 to choose from, and I chose the best one. Still, there were several scratches and paint nicks!
I brought the implement into my heated garage and worked on it several hours each night this week, much to the dislike of the wife. (I work 8:30 to 5:30 at the office)
First, I rubbed out the paint by hand with Mcguire's fine-cut cleaner. It brought out a much better shine, removing most of the haze or cloudiness. Then I degreased by wiping every scratch and nick, with Isopropyl alcohol, in preparation for painting. Then I loosely masked off each small area I was going to touch-up. (about 10 areas in all). Then I bought a can of Massey-Ferguson Red. I carefully sprayed 4 very light coats, with 10-minutes drying time between coats. After removing the masking tape, it looked pretty good. The next evening I "blended in" the paint areas, by again using the rubbing compound.
Next, I applied 2 coats of car wax to the entire surface, including mounting brackets and gear box case. After buffing off the wax, it really looks beautiful! My wife was wondering what in the world I was doing out in the garage....
Next I safely blocked the big deck up off the ground. I crawled under, and applied car wax to the entire underside, and blades. Then I sprayed a product called "Mo-Deck" to the underside. It's a no-stick spray that enhances the ability to clean the deck later; usually the grass & weed build-up will just hose off. Then I adjusted and greased the PTO driveline, checked the oil in the gearbox, and finally greased and cleaned the tailwheel.
There.....now I have a beautiful, NEW Rotary Cutter, ready to go to work. It was a total of 10 hrs work, but hopefully worth it. Unfortunately, my wife invited me to stay out there and sleep with the tractor.......
