Rust on 2006 2544!

[Flip221]

Hi all,

I was giving the cub a washdown this weekend and was shocked to find all kinds of flaking paint and rust around one of the retainer holes under the one of the black rubber "foot pads".

Anyone know if cub warrantees the paint on these units or should I just remove the loose paint, sand it down and repaint with spray paint??

Thanks,
Kirt

 

[nbtvee6]

Mine is too. There is nothing to do about it the rubber is going to rub the paint off no matter what you do. I found some yellow paint that almost matches and just sand er down and touch it up every spring. The fact that you can take them off and let it dry out and touch up the paint is nice in my opinion. Its under the rubber so nobody will ever see it.

But, I would take that over the "permanent" rubber foot pads that my Crapsman had that you couldn't remove and trapped water under them and caused the entire thing to rust out and fall apart.

 

[JSharp]

I've got paint peeling in a number of places on my 2554 deck. Plenty of bare metal showing that'll soon turn to rust I'm sure. Not too impressive for a 1 1/2 year old tractor.

I've yet to call my dealer about because I doubt they'll give me a new mower deck under warranty. That's really the only fix for it that might work long term...

 

[JTKub]

Obviously after ~3 seasons, I've got very little paint left on the underside of the deck, but it doesn't really continue to rust since I scape most of the clumps out after each use. My tractor stays indoors and basically dry, so I don't have any rust, even under the rubber matting. I think I've only hosed the machine off once. I blow it off with my leaf blower after each use. I do have some paint missing on areas of the hood panels that vibrate and rub together.

 

[Fordlords]

Most of this stuff today is powder coated, as it is safer, easier and cheaper than painting. But, I've noticed that powder coating does not hold up nearly as well as paint done correctly. Powder coating does not usually require any priming, and can be applied directly to bare metal. Then once the coating chips or cracks, it's right down to bare metal and the rust begins quickly.

When I restored my old 682, I spent an embarassing amount of money on having the old paint stripped to bare metal, priming, base and clear coating everything. But, for the long run it will be worth it. I also stripped and painted a new 44C deck housing that came to me in Cub Cadet yellow from MTD, that is how I know they use quite a bit of powder coating. It stripped off easily, right to bare metal with no primer underneath. That is what you get on a new mower deck today, and why the finish does not last long.

-Fordlords-

 

[BTI]

FL said
"I've noticed that powder coating does not hold up nearly as well as paint done correctly."

Ain't that the truth.
It doesn't fade as much as most paint but when you chip it, it's bare metal.

BTI

 

[Flip221]

Thanks for the replies guys. I don't really care too much about the deck - I have all kinds of bare metal under there from chopping up pinecones and such, but I was surprised to find the rust under the foot pad.

I do agree it is nice that they are removable at least! I know I saw "cub yelow" spray paint at my dealer. I'll pick some up this weekend. ANy thoughts on whether I should apply some rust inhibitor first or just cleanup the rust and paint?

 

[JSharp]

The powder coat should be quite durable but prep errors in production are sort of hidden. Unlike paint that will probably give a bad finish if you apply it to oily metal, powder coat will go right on and look fine. Only to peel off in sheets later thanks to no adhesion.

That's what's happening to my deck. It's peeling on the upper part and there's bright shiny metal under the coating.

Maybe Cub needs some new QA people. The ones thay have sure aren't doing their jobs...