Mowing Rustproofing mower decks

[bfabricant]

I recently purchased a B7510 with a 60" belly mower, and friends have suggested undercoating the mower to protect it from rusting. I am wondering if anyone has done this, and if so what effect it has on discharging grass, as undercoating is not as slippery as the current painted surface. Thank you in advance for you input.

 

[beenthere]

Welcome to the forum.

Do your friends have mower decks that this has worked for them?
I am thinking not, but curious as to their experience.

 

[Don_Sullivan]

I have a BX1500 w/48" mower deck, 200 hours. At the suggestion of my K dealer I used Fluid Film Rust&Corrosion Preventive when I put the deck to bed last fall. The underside of the deck was showing a lot of bare metal and my experience has been that once the paint is gone it's gone forever (goes for snowblowers too). Came Spring, this stuff was there just as slimy and ugly as it was in October and looks about the same in June. I seem to recall from Internet searches it is a "woolwax" product.

Don Sullivan, NH

 

[Tom_H]

Welcome to the forum.

I saw a guy on a lawn care TV show recently who recommended including this in your yearly maintenance. Turn deck over, remove & sharpen blades, use plastic scraper to remove built up layer of thatch, check belts, spray a spray can lubricant onto the underside to both prevent rusting and to prevent grass buildup, grease zerks, reattach blades, flip upright. Some spray can type things could be WD-40, Pam, etc. You could also wipe on a low viscosity oil: a vegetable type cooking oil, machine oil, etc. This would prevent Oxygen from getting to the iron and keep clippings for sticking. He recommended once a year, but I would think it wouldn't stay that long. I'd also have concerns about getting it on belts for those decks that have them.

 

[DHD]

I use old crankcase oil.
After about two mowing sessions (about 8 hours of steady mowing) I remove the mowing deck, take off the blades for sharpening, scrape off the built up grass clippings from the bottom of the deck, and paint on a layer of used crackcase oil, and grease the zert fittings.
I probably should scrape off the grass clipping build up after every every mowing session.
I do this same procedure at the end of mowing season.
Come spring there is still a layer of used crankcase oil on the mower deck.

 

[Tom_H]

All the lubricants I mentioned are biologically safe. Crankcase oil comes off with the clippings and gets into the soil. This is very toxic to the environment.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Excellent idea !!!! Another good use for crankcase oil.

 

[Tom_H]

If you let the authorities catch you getting oil in Squaw Creek and the Truckee River, you may not think the idea was so excellent.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Free geography lesson
Cheers!

 

[millsnhills]

LOL

 

[Tom_H]

No lesson needed. Used to live at Tahoe. Love KT-22. Backpacked and nordic skiied all over Desolation. Have little doubt that I know the geography of the area better than you ever will. Don't care for those with no respect for water quality of the basin and surrounding Sierra watersheds.

 

[HomeBrew2]

(Taking the "highest road" I can stomach, folks) ...

Tom_H:

Please take a moment to view the attached image.

The "Squaw Valley" of which you speak is not "Squaw Valley, CA *93675*" (as my TBN profile location indicates).

"Your" Squaw Valley is really known, formally, as Squaw Valley USA, CA and is located near Lake Tahoe, CA.

"My" Squaw Valley, is THE Squaw Valley, CA, which is located east of Fresno, CA.

"Your" Squaw Valley was "created", recently, in California history terms, for snow skiing purposes.

"My" Squaw Valley's history dates back some 100+ years.

The proper geographic name for "your" Squaw Valley is Olympic Valley.

The geographic name for "my" Squaw Valley is ... umm ... Squaw Valley.

I don't care much for those in positions of educating our offspring, at extravagant expence, that do not realize the facts when said facts are handed to them on a silver platter.

But, I do wish you a good evening and hope you have some nice homebrewed beer or hooch to sip on.
Cheers!

 

[DHD]

When you brush or spray oil on the bottom of a mowing deck very little oil is used and when mowing this small amount of oil gets spread out over a large area.
But, you are probably correct that used crankcase oil should not be used to protect mower decks from rusting because it could have an adverse effect on the enviroment.
Machine oil, WD-40 or anything thats not biodegradable probably should not be used either.
If it's not biodegradable, it will keep building up in the enviroment it's spread in.

 

[Boone]

I painted the bottom of the deck with POR-15. It has been holding up good.

 

[rpeter]

I know nothing of the local geography of California, but I do know that anyone who thinks teachers are being paid salaries that are an “extravagant expense” is showing their own ignorance /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[eno]

The cost of replacing a mower deck is minimun compare to the damage we do the environment when we do not do responsible maintenance, lets be responsible PLEASE.

 

[JEDsBX22]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The cost of replacing a mower deck is minimun compare to the damage we do the environment when we do not do responsible maintenance, lets be responsible PLEASE. )</font>
I too am a firm believer that the only legitimate use for used crankcase oil is the big recycling tank at the local landfill. Once it's in the environment, there are just too many ways for it to reach fresh water supplies.

 

[RayBee]

Here is a link to this subject matter which was discussed at length, ....RayBee


http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=genoperating&Number=388364&Forum=All_Forums&Words=RayBee&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=2&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=387112&Search=true#Post388364

 

[Highbeam]

The educator in question was a graduate student so it is reasonable to assume he may have been a university type professor. Many are very well paid and cost to students for listening to these people is extremely high.

Heaven forbid you use nonbiodegradable grease to lube the zerks and the grease is squished out of the joint onto mother earth.

I utilize a pressure washer on mowers to blow off every bit of loose rust, paint, and thatch (onto the ground) before painting with whatever can of spray paint I have on hand(volatile emmisions). Many parts of the country utilize a heavy oil (think 90 weight gear oil) to undercoat their autos since the rubberized type undercoating can actually do more harm than good. Clean the deck, and seal the bare metal to prevent oxidation. Thick petroleum or paint can be used. Whatever you use will need to be reapplied after mowing and should be smooth to allow smooth airflow.

Tree huggers. We have oil mat roads, creosoted telephone poles, and even creosoted railroad ties. Get used to responsible reasonable use of petroleum. The crankcase oil will get saturated with dust and then fall off in a mower deck application. More pollution will be made by the exhaust emmisions of the tractor.

 

[RichNJKubota]

I use Fluid Film for rust protection on lots of things but never thought of the mower deck. It should work fine and it's non-toxic.

Rich