Repainting a Bobcat - Advice?

[dieselfuelonly]

Hey ya'll,

Hopefully this is OK to post here, even though it doesn't involve a tractor.

I recently bought a 2000 Bobcat 753. While its very good mechanically, it needs some paint for sure.

I don't need it to look like it just rolled off the factory floor. But I do want it to look nice again. I think having clean equipment will be to my advantage when I am doing a job for someone else.

Anyway, I got a $75 Northern Tool gift card for Christmas from my father. I was thinking of getting a paint sprayer. I have an old 220v Sears air compressor that to this day has been bulletproof, and has been used with a paint sprayer before with good results. I'll make sure I set it up right so that I don't risk getting any water in the paint gun.

So there are a couple questions for you all:

What is the best way to go about cleaning the machine up? Should I put it on jack stands (not sure if thats possible, but I don't see why not), take the wheels off, and just go to town on it with some degreaser? Then maybe rough it up with an orbital sander?

Then, once its all ready for paint, would a paint sprayer be the way to go? Which model from Northern Tool would best suite my uses in the "below $100" price range?

Paint Spray Guns | Painting | Northern Tool + Equipment

As for the paint... I can think of three colors - the black, the white, and the orange. I did a little research and found that there may be better alternatives than getting the paint from the dealer. Not sure about that, so if someone has some advice and/or links from where to get the paint from, I'd appreciate it. Any idea on how much paint I would need to cover everything?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to do a good job, and not have to come back in a year and redo everything.

Thanks in advance!

Dennis

 

[George2615]

Bobcat lists a 753 at around 5000lb so make sure you have your jackstands placed well and are rated to handle the weight before removing the wheels. (Safety first here)

Once set up you can go at it degreasing everything.

Then sand down everything paying close attention to any rusted spots. Don't try to mask off the decals, just sand them off or use a heat gun to remove them since you can order new ones to apply when you're done.

If you have rust pitting you can use something like POR 15 rust converter on those areas. Sand down with a 400 grit wet/dry paper before priming and use a good quality primer / sealer then hand sand again before spraying your final colors.

For paint I'd go with industrial type paint from Bobcat. I'm sure you can buy Industrial paint most anywhere though. 3 quarts of white and a quart or less on the others is probably all you need for several coats with the proper thinner.

You can apply the paint easily with the item #156401 $54.99 paint gun in your link from Northern.

 

[Jeepnford]

Unless you have a power washer I'd take it to a car wash first and give it a good going over with that. If it's really greasy use a good degreaser to remove that. As a final cleaner use some wax and grease remover from an auto paint supplier before sanding and grinding. They can tell you what to use. You'll also want to use a prep solvent right before painting. Painting is easy,prep is everything.

 

[vettemanwight]

I wouldnt take it to a car wash to pressure wash it. I know personally that the owners really get a little disturbed by people that do this !!!!!!! It clogs up their drains and then they have to have them pumped out. If you cant do it for yourself or have a friend that can do it take it to somone that can and pay him to do it.Most car washes have a sign about not degreasing engines at their location. V

 

[Silk Hope Soldier]

Hey Diesel Fuel:

I live in Chapel Hill myself and am "fixin" to re-paint a farm dump truck.

I have a nice paint sprayer (never used) and air compressor. Also, I have a Honda 3500 pressure washer that will do a nice job.

Your welcome to use them if you like.

Send me a PM.

Silk Hope Soldier

 

[dirtworksequip]

I don't need it to look like it just rolled off the factory floor. But I do want it to look nice again. I think having clean equipment will be to my advantage when I am doing a job for someone else.

Most people don't care what your machines look like. All they usually want is the cheapest price. You are the only one that really cares about the apearance of your machines and how it refects on you. As long as you can get the job done and do it cheap is what the average person wants.

 

[RichNJKubota]

I will second what George said. Good advice and I will add to that.
I don't use POR15 because it's not a rust converter. I use a spray can from NAPA for about $7. The rust converter is the way to go. I've found the paint from the manufacturer is typically expensive and you get what you pay for. To save time and money I don't use any primer on farm equipment. The rust converter and going around with a wire brush on an angle grinder is the best way to prep. So get the oil, grease and dirt off. Use a wire brush on the rust spots, spray rust converter and then 2 coats of finish color. A primer will give better results but who cares if your equipment had some imperfections in the paint?
People tell me that I have to use a primer but so far (using manufacturers paint) I have had no compatibility problems.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Thanks for the great advise everyone.

Silk Hope Soldier - Wow - thats very very kind of you. I really appreciate that. I have all the stuff I'll need minus the paint gun, which I would like to have around anyway for other project, but thanks again for offering. Keep us updated on your farm truck project. You may have seen (or heard ) my truck around town... its a dark green 1996 Dodge 3500 diesel.

dirtworksequip - you make a good point. I do like to have my stuff somewhat clean, I like to take good care of my equipment. I can only imagine that the rust on the front of the boom would get worse eventually, so I figure if I'm going to clean that up, I might as well go ahead and clean the whole machine up too.


So, correct me if I'm wrong:

1. Do an initial cleaning with a pressure washer/degreaser to get all the gunk off.

2. Wire brush away. (Do I need to grind all the old paint off?)

3. Spray some rust converter on (is it safe to spray this through the spray gun?)

4. Primer if I can find it for cheap/have the time, but its not necessary.

5. Put on the final coats.

Sound good?

Thanks again for all the helpful advise.

Dennis

 

[Silk Hope Soldier]

For What it's Worth...

Cleaning-up the old Ford Dump Body, I used an angle grinder to take out the really rough rust spots. I used a Orbital sander with rough grit on the light spots and wire brushed corners etc.

I had a can of rustoleum primer on hand and hit a bunch of spots thinking I was going to spray prime the entire thing with the compressed air sprayer.

I was really impressed with the spray application, and think I will prime the rest with spray cans rather than deal with cleaning out the gun--which is such a mess to do without a shop.

So methinks I will now just shoot the body as is--it's a dump body, not a skid steer!

I'll keep an eye out for the green Monster.

P.S. Looking for a 4WD truck--let me know if you see one around.

 

[2manyrocks]

There have been some posts here about repainting tractors that would be good information to review on prep and painting. As I recall one of our discussions about buying paint, there is a lot of difference between the cheap paint and the more expensive paint in terms of durability.

Bobcats get used so hard that I don't pay much attention to whether one is clean and painted or not.

 

[George2615]

I would not spray rust converter through a spray gun because of the chemical reaction. It may plug up the gun for future use. Most rust converters can be brushed on or some have a dawber applicator right in the bottle. The stuff I have used goes on a milky white color then turns black when cured.

 

[RWolf]

I wouldn't hesitate to use degreaser at a car wash as all the car washes around here have a degreaser/engine cleaner on them. Clean thourghly with degreaser then with soap and rinse thourougly. Dry then sand rust and paint favorite color. Make sure you are using a dry compressor (no oil lubrication) or use apropriate filters, dryer etc. Watch your PSI on the gun as to much can ruin a paint job. You can tape off and cover wheels with paper or plastic. Good luck.

 

[jgl1962]

Hey,

2 things..if you're not done already ..well 3.

Remember that approx 2/3 of the weight of the machine WITH the bucket on is over the rear axles....very back heavy with no bucket.

Try and stick to the original color scheme if not genuine Bobcat brand paint. Make what's black now black and orange orange etc. Looks better at resale time as does coming as close as possible to the original colors. Bobcat dealers have ready to spray quarts, spray cans and even little white out like bottles for touch up.

Replacing the major decals and the safety treads go a long way to that look you want for you customers and don't cost a lot.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Here is some info on matching paint, borrowed from ssf

This time I took some hidden parts to my local automotive paint store and had them do a color match with a scanner. There scanner came up with these results:
White: # F1858 IE Car: Toyota Code: 056 Color: White Year: 1998 perfect match for me
Orange: # 6756 A Car: Ford ( I think it's for an old Mustang) Code: MX706718 Color:
Orange Year: 1992 just a tad darker in bright sun but way better match than Bobcats paint
Gray: 2 color codes mixed with equal amounts of each # DS023A and #DS024 Car: Spectramaster Code: N/A Color: Spectramaster Dark Neutral Year: N/A in bright sun one was a little dark the other was a little light so we mixed the two together and it came out perfect.
These numbers should be good at any paint store and are amazingly close to the factory colors on my 1998 Bobcat. You will need to thin 2 parts paint to 1 part reducer for spraying and maybe a little less for brushing.
Be sure to get reducer for the temperature you'll be painting at. I don't add any gloss hardner so the paint will stay flexable. It scratches instead of chipping.
Just don't pressure wash it for a few weeks to make sure it has time to harden. My store sells Dupont Paints. The Centari Acrylic Enamel is the best @ $39.90 a quart unreduced, I have started using their commercial Dupont brand called Nason Ful-Cryl II @ $26.55 a quart unreduced. Can't tell the difference except for the price. Remember to get reducer they will add it for you or sell you just what you need for about $0.30 an ounce. That makes it @ $30.00 for a quart and half of really good paint.

These are courtesy of another poster
Ken