Dealing From The Bottom of The Deck

[tarcoleo 119]

I see where many here are religious about cleaning the undersides of decks,

even refinishing such surfaces. I generally scrape the underside of my deck

whenever I sharpen blades, about twice a year.

Corrosion is the bugaboo, and how the deck is stored when not in use matters.

Leaky barns with dirt floors are bad. Dry garages with concrete floors are good.

Beyond that, I'm not up to sand blasting a deck bottom and coating same with

expensive materials. So here's my notion.

I change the engine oil twice a year. The drained oil is sent to our town's recycle

centre. I just cleaned up my deck and I wonder if it would be a good idea to

"paint" the bottom with a little of the drained engine oil. Going to try it out in the

hope that it will 1) reduce corrosion rate, and 2) reduce clips build-up and make

removal easier.

Don't imagine it will hurt, anybody have experience as to whether this idea has

any benefit?

swamp yankee

:scratchead:

[Don1977 604]

It would help with the rust, but it may make the grass stick better. I primed the under side of my deck when I painted it and after mowing 5 or 6 times it's all gone. I have 300 ft. of grave drive that the sides has to be mowed and it has already sand blasted the primer off.

[MikesRJ 552]

I've seen several neighbors who've had their bottoms powder coated. Seems to hold up amazingly well under the constant barrage of dirt, stones and sand, grass doesn't stick to it too well, and rust is a thought from history. Expensive, maybe, worth it, that depends on what powder coating costs in your area. Most decks are minimum of $300 (used) and I've seen then as high as $900 (new).

[tarcoleo 119]

Speaking of sand blasting, the aluminum spindle housings sure do take a beating.

I notice major parts of housing nos. 2 and 3 are worn away in my "new"

48" SD, but not on no. 1 where there is no gravel being thrown against it.

swamp yankee

[Duff 206]

At the end of the season I wire brush the underside very thoroughly then coat it with bar and chain oil. After each mowing I wash the underside of the deck by driving the tractor up onto ramps then hosing out the underside of the deck with the blades spinning at full speed. The turbulence seems to aid in the washing process. Since I don't have any room in my shop and don't have a garage, I park the tractor on a sheet of pressure treated plywood under my deck and tarp it. The deck doesn't seem to be rusting.

Just one man's experience......

Duff :thumbs2:

[W9JAB 156]

Might what take a look at this

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/index.php?showtopic=11034

[WheelHorse_of_course 99]

I normally don't worry about the bottom more than scraping when I do the blades.

That said, if I wanted to do something I would try would be a mixture of creosote and linseed oil. My theory is that both the linseed and the creosote will dry with time, but remain water resisting.

I used this under the rocker panel of a car once. Put it in a pressure sprayer.

If you want to get rid of you waste oil (I give it to my neighbor who uses it in his barn heater in the winter) you could try 1 part oil, 1 part linseed oil and one part creosote.

Whatever you do, let us know how it works out.

:thumbs2:

[tarcoleo 119]

Now that the mowing season here in New England is just about over, I dropped

the deck under discussion above to see how the underside has been doing since the

application of oil last July. The mower has cut 2 acres every week during a very

wet late summer/early fall.

Accumulation of clips under the deck (48" SD) was mimimal and corrosion was

slight. The generation of the fine black dust petered out and I am convinced it came

from the use of dirty spent crankcase oil.

My practice henceforth will be to drop the deck twice a year, clean the underside,

sharpen the blades, and paint the bottom with virgin gear oil, diluted with gasoline 50/50.

Final confirmation as to the effectiveness of this procedure awaits another season.

Tom in RI :notworthy:

[acedog 1]

I use to use old motor oil to coat the underside of the mower deck for years and it seemed to do a good job, little accumulation and no rust. This year I used rustoleum rusty metal primer. So at the end of next cutting season I'll how it did compared to using the oil.

[jla1257 2]

Accidentally placed this post in the wrong place, sorry for the repeat.

Just got to thinking about the under side of the mower deck. Has anyone tried spraying the underside with spray in bed liner for trucks?

[tarcoleo 119]

On another deck, I will be testing the value of epoxying a deck bottom

as someone has suggested elsewhere on this list. Check back this time

next year for the results. Have a great holiday season everybody.

Tom in RI :notworthy:

[GlenPettit 1,714]

Jeff: Do not spray the underside of the deck with a rough spray, you want a nice smooth surface there, so grass will easily slide off. There are older posts here on Red Square on this subject.

[can whlvr 991]

i did one or two decks with epoxy and it held up good,i just have to power wash it and if i had time aquick recoat,at least i dont have the rust to contend with

[Jedakiego 0]

I am going to do 2 decks this winter, my 42 Wheelhores and my Dads off brand with this.

http://www.agspecialty.com/EZslide.htm

I used it in some feed hoppers I repaired this year and it worked REALLY REALLY WELL!

I am hopping it works 1/2 as good as it did on the hoppers. You can get it at some Tractor Supply Stores.