restoring a tree spade - help needed

[marcin]

Hi all,

I have an old, but functioning, Vermeer TS44A tree spade. I would like to restore its appearance, it is really rusted. I have searched on how to do this but am really confused about what I found. Can you please help me. Here are my questions:

1. How should I remove rust? I have been using a wire wheel, but should I just use an acid solution? Should I use both a wire wheel and acid?
2. What should I prime with: self-etching, regular, epoxy primer?
3. Should I sand the equipment, and if so at which point during the process?
4. What type of paint: alkyd enamel, acrylic enamel, epoxy?

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[DANOCHEESE]

Around here we have a few guys that do sand blasting. Mostly small welding shops. Sand blast the parts after stripping hoses and such. Paint Lsots of primer and vemeer yellow. A good dupont dealer can ell you what to use. Wish I had a spade