Deck repairs?

[bo dawg 538]

Is there anything on here about repair work on the decks? Like rebuilds, or weld/patch work on the shells?

Just curious how others might perform tasks thats needed to keep these old thing still functional.

Point at hand..... I need to weld up a hole in the corner of the deck and would like to see how others go about it. Ive done a couple others that were smaller but this one is larger and right in the crown of the corner.

[ri702bill 10,852]

The damaged area is much larger than it appears on the outside. Once you grind that surface to expose good parent metal to weld to, you will be amazed how much is gone.

Folks here have used either metal or fiberglass cloth & resin for that type of repair with acceptable results. Third choice is a replacement shell...

[peter lena 9,616]

@bo dawg   the secret to deck life is  oiled lubrication  , been doing this for years , original decks , zero rot / rust  , my decks were put away cleaned , and sun hot  , soaked , propped up to a wall , with a heavy spring to  screw in eye , decks also have a total ,   bearing clean out and re grease , lucas XHD  green chassis grease , every related bearing has this , mule drive / pto set up , YOU HAVE TO BREAK THE GRUNGE CYCLE . also no belt squealing , decks spin by hand . pete

 

[ineedanother 1,821]

I went the fiberglass route with one last year. I have a wire welder but molding steel patches was going to be messy at best and the repair I was making was a bit less than what you have. I layered 8 oz. cloth on holes as well as thinned areas and it has held up well so far.  

[peter lena 9,616]

this is another stage of  deck preservation   on all my decks , found once done , and sun hot baked into  cleaned / dry base , its going no whare , like a 2 step , chain / cable lube , hot bake that  , once established  use an  OPEN GEAR  spray , over that , and hot bake , better part of the day , at  angle , to  get  hot , sit there for hours , also  have them up against the wall stud , with heavy screw in  eye ,  and spring  to  10"   long S looped  connector , makes it easy  to grab deck lift  frame and hold in place , pete

[8ntruck 8,424]

The easiest repair method in that location is fiberglass as @ineedanother describes.  

 

But, if you have sandy soil like I do, a fiberglass patch is probably a temporary patch, due to the sand blasting action while the mower runs.

 

Being a retired press & die engineer, I'd get out a ball peen hammer and a log with a shallow depression in the end and try to beat out a reasonable facsimile patch panel.  Might be easier to match the contour with a 2 or 3 piece patch. 

 

I've got some patch work to do on my decks, so that was more of a pep talk to myself.....

[Blue Chips 494]

If you have enough solid metal under and around the height-adjustment bracket, then I think you could get by with fiberglass and resin. If the height-adjustment bracket has lost much of its support, then if it were me I'd opt for welding. IF it's just a matter of expediency and looks don't matter, then a welded repair should be pretty easy. If appearances are important, it will take a bit of work to do a nice-looking welded repair, which would involve cutting back the rust until you hit good solid metal, and then cutting and shaping the insert(s) to match the opening and the original contours. Some extra strips of metal could be welded across the seams underneath the deck if extra strength is needed.

 

Shaping mild steel sheet isn't terribly difficult for small pieces. If you don't have fancy equipment like a metal stretcher/shrinker, English wheel, bending brake, body hammers, dollies, etc., you can get by with a vise, a leather bag full of steel shot to pound against (or just some soft wood with a depression in it, like @8ntruck suggested) and a couple of sizes of peening hammers.

 

Here are some photos of one of my more recent sheet metal repairs. It's not a mowing deck, but the approach is basically the same.

BTW, I'm NOT a professional body man, but I like doing some sheet metal work from time to time.

 

Before (bad welds and repairs by previous owners, rusted and cracked metal):

 

Disassembled and chipped off enough old paint and body putty to assess how extensive the damage was, which revealed several cracks, rust, and bad brazing work:

 

Straightened out a few spots, cut the cracked metal and rust spots back to solid metal, and started welding a few places.

Not all of the repair areas are shown in these photos.

 

New metal shaped, welded in, and rough ground:

 

After a few small dabs of Bondo, sanding, and priming:

 

The result after painting and reassembly (plus a new badge):

 

If you haven't done sheet metal restoration before, fixing the deck could be a fun little project.

 

 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Blue Chips

[Brockport Bill 2,158]

2 hours ago, peter lena said:

this is another stage of  deck preservation   on all my decks , found once done , and sun hot baked into  cleaned / dry base , its going no whare , like a 2 step , chain / cable lube , hot bake that  , once established  use an  OPEN GEAR  spray , over that , and hot bake , better part of the day , at  angle , to  get  hot , sit there for hours , also  have them up against the wall stud , with heavy screw in  eye ,  and spring  to  10"   long S looped  connector , makes it easy  to grab deck lift  frame and hold in place , pete

 

hey Pete -- when you do your sun soak treatment are we limited to how strong the sun is - and the outside temperatures? in other words  -- is it essential for it to be summer or fall temps? Or, will a warm sunny winter day of perhaps 30-40 degrees produce enough "sun heat effect" to accomplish the process of the oil to the metal? Said simply -- if it's direct sunny day, what is the minimum outdoor temp that's needed to be effective and for how many hours? I have been doing the gear oil treatment on my decks for a few years with good results but have only done minimal sun treatment.......Thanks, Bill

[Lee1977 7,477]

I welded several pieces of 1/8" to the inside it's rough. Then fill in the out side with JB weld, it's held up for at least 20 years and still holding.

. 

[peter lena 9,616]

@Brockport Bill  basically  found it  better  on a hotter day . think if you don't have sun , but do have a  heated , inside set up  it might work , reason for  heat is that you can see the  transitional  oil absorption into / on the  deck surface . realise  everyone is going to see this differently , basically started  it after  , rebuilding all the spindles , and detailing the functional hell out of it  , can honestly say  the baked oil finish  has been bombproof , years now , with  zero wear areas . do a lot of experimenting on REPEDITIVE FAILURE AREAS , thats where I  seperate myself  from the regular  , repetitive fix , decks and  plows  are fun to correct , and really not that difficult to do , often refer to  roller stooling around , and studying  failure points , lubrication failure  is a very common ,problem . that and detailing , have stuff years  , with zero issues , after correction . my decks spin up with no effort  or noise , never burned up a pto clutch disk, every related bearing , was cleaned out  and hand packed , with hi temp / stress grease . plow swing quadrant , and related squeeze lever  , are the key areas , to  movement ease , hiding in plane site , love to eliminate a problem . pete       

[Brockport Bill 2,158]

1 hour ago, peter lena said:

@Brockport Bill  basically  found it  better  on a hotter day . think if you don't have sun , but do have a  heated , inside set up  it might work , reason for  heat is that you can see the  transitional  oil absorption into / on the  deck surface . realise  everyone is going to see this differently , basically started  it after  , rebuilding all the spindles , and detailing the functional hell out of it  , can honestly say  the baked oil finish  has been bombproof , years now , with  zero wear areas . do a lot of experimenting on REPEDITIVE FAILURE AREAS , thats where I  seperate myself  from the regular  , repetitive fix , decks and  plows  are fun to correct , and really not that difficult to do , often refer to  roller stooling around , and studying  failure points , lubrication failure  is a very common ,problem . that and detailing , have stuff years  , with zero issues , after correction . my decks spin up with no effort  or noise , never burned up a pto clutch disk, every related bearing , was cleaned out  and hand packed , with hi temp / stress grease . plow swing quadrant , and related squeeze lever  , are the key areas , to  movement ease , hiding in plane site , love to eliminate a problem . pete       

so can i conclude based on your comments that a deck bottom could be cleaned in the winter --- then apply oil - then bring into heated garage and point space heater at oiled deck area and that the oiled deck surface  would interact with metal just as if it were heated in the sun?