Molasses Rust Removal

[Ed Kennell 47,105]

Has anyone tried this?

molasses rust removal - Search

[rjg854 13,330]

1 hour ago, Ed Kennell said:

Has anyone tried this?

Does sound interesting though.  

[953 nut 68,774]

Molasses can safely remove rust from iron and steel through a slow chelation process, leaving the underlying metal intact.

               We have all heard the phrase, "slower than molasses in January," guess this substantiates it.

 

One thing is for sure, if you didn't have an insect problem before, you would after doing this method of rust removal.      

[ri702bill 12,904]

1 hour ago, 953 nut said:

Molasses can safely remove rust from iron and steel through a slow chelation process, leaving the underlying metal intact.

               We have all heard the phrase, "slower than molasses in January," guess this substantiates it.

 

One thing is for sure, if you didn't have an insect problem before, you would after doing this method of rust removal.      

Just dump the dregs on the ex-wife's front lawn!!!

[ebinmaine 80,455]

1 hour ago, 953 nut said:

slower than molasses in January

 

Around here when something is REALLY slow we add "Goin uphill"

 

 

2 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

Has anyone tried this?

molasses rust removal - Search

 

Read about it. Never done it. Definitely interesting.  

[ri702bill 12,904]

Given enough of it, under pressure, it DOES move right along....

 

Great Molasses Flood - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood

[Wheelhorse#1 1,976]

I hear you can use it as a fertilizer too, but haven’t tried that.

[953 nut 68,774]

 

Why wouldn't you just use it to make cookies,  Ginger snaps, oatmeal cookies, molasses cookies?

 

[Ed Kennell 47,105]

4 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

Why wouldn't you just use it to make cookies

I do that ..... after derusting my tractor parts.   Just strain out the big chunks of rust.

[953 nut 68,774]

25 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

I do that ..... after derusting my tractor parts.   Just strain out the big chunks of rust.

               If the cookies are for children don't strain out the iron. Babies need iron to build hemoglobin as it carries oxygen to support development of the nervous system       To this very day I get nervous if I run low on cookies.                                  

 

 

[peter lena 10,029]

@Ed Kennell  never used molasses for rust , KEY  IS TO NEVER LET IT START , a good penetrating oil , starting at the HIGHEST  AREA START , WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY ?  drops down  like a window shade of  oil . that is also  the perfect  CARRIER FOR A HEAVIER LUBRICANT ? LIKE OPEN  GEAR  SPRAY  LUBRICANT . local  big box store , contractor section  ? look at the  rotted pick up trucks , regularly , wipe down my  wheel horses , with penetrant , / miner al oil ,  no  dust or film , just perfect patina  paint . all my  cars , have  lubrication in every body seam ? it will show you the way , like napa , MACS  cable / chain spray , then days later   open gear  lubricant . every  door bottom , has a lubricant residue , that can be easily inspected, showed my grandson how to buff out car finish with  penetrant , looks era perfect , and zero rust / rot . chalky paint  is begging  for lubrication . pete 

[Wheelhorse#1 1,976]

6 hours ago, 953 nut said:

 

Why wouldn't you just use it to make cookies,  Ginger snaps, oatmeal cookies, molasses cookies?

 

Dod someone say COOKIES ! 

[8ntruck 9,245]

On 9/21/2026 at 11:21 AM, peter lena said:

@Ed Kennell  never used molasses for rust , KEY  IS TO NEVER LET IT START 

Sometimes, you don't get that choice.  

 

I'm currently working on creating ditches along my future driveway on our Ky property.  I'm roughing them out with the backhoe on my MF GC 1720, then want to finish them off with the grader blade and my 8n.   I just discovered Saturday that the grader blade for the 8n has a tilt function to go along with angle and offset adjustments.  Perfect feature to form ditches.  However, the bolts on the tilt adjustment are rusted solid.  Probably have been for several decades.

 

I first met this implement in the mid 90's the first time I owned this tractor.  The grader blade was old and rusty then.  I sold it in the early 2000's, then bought it back in '19 or '20. The grader blade came back with it.  The guy i sold the tractor to used the grader blade to maintain the gravel parking lot around his warehouse.  I'm 99.999% sure he never tilted the blade or even knew about the tilt adjustment.  He did add some reinforcements to the blade and painted it black.

 

All I had during this trip to work on this was a can of PB Blaster and a propane torch.  Its been rusted for a looong time, so it will take time to break it loose.

Edited 5 hours ago by 8ntruck

[peter lena 10,029]

@8ntruck   realise your  situation , like recovering the dead , BTW  the first thing  I do to any recent , pick up is to ? get a  penetrant going  on / in  it , it literally  shows itself , creeping / darkening metal  layering . best  next stage to that ?  hot sun , is the perfect metal absorption  stage you want ,  been doing this for years , also winter store my stuff / winter , same way  spring hook held  up to  wall framing , lets me watch what's going on. evolved to this by  EXPERIMENTING  TO A REPEDITIVE PROBLEM  ? realise we all  look at a problem differently , like what's  eating my pto drive belt  set up alive ?  thats another gold mine , for improvement , thank you for a reply , greasy pete

 

[Handy Don 17,375]

11 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

grader blade for the 8n has a tilt function to go along with angle and offset adjustments

Pictures?

[peter lena 10,029]

@Handy Don  regularly  experiment with  anything that has a  repetitive issue ?  regularly  simple easy , enhancement  to  function . like adding a spring  / lubrication pull to cables for movement ease , spring pulls  cable swing cam to CLOSE , ? so  every time you use it , you have lubricated - pull assist , decades  in use , pete  

[Handy Don 17,375]

1 hour ago, peter lena said:

@Handy Don  regularly  experiment

I'm simply curious about how @8ntrucks Ford grader rake/tilt adjustability mechanism was designed to work and hoping a couple of pictures would reveal that. It might be that it’s on a 3-point and adjusting the linkages yields the rake and tilt. 

Edited 18 hours ago by Handy Don

[8ntruck 9,245]

15 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Pictures?

Gonna be a while.  I put 500 miles between me and that grader blade today.  

 

Basically, for offset, the arm that holds the blade has a pivot on the 3 point hitch.  There is a semi circular plate with multiple holes allowing the arm to swing right or left 45, may be 50 degrees.  For blade angle, it has a pin and pivot on the end of the arm and a circular plate with holes around the edge on the blade allowing the blade to rotate 360 degrees with lots of angle choices.

 

For blade tilt, I discovered that what I thought were the bolts holding the blade to its pivot pin bracket actually allow the blade to tilt.  The upper bolt is the tilt pivot, and the lower bolt has maybe 5 choices for tilt position.  There have been enough repairs and reinforcements done on this blade that the tilt feature is not readily visible.  I noticed a well painted over manufacturer tag on it this morning.  Forgot to take a picture of it, though.  Would be nice to track down how it is assembled.

 

The 3 point hitch has an adjustable leveling link between the right hand lift link and lower link that gives maybe 4" of tilt across a 6' blade - not enough for a ditch.  Did more back filling than excivating when I tried to run it down the ditch.  This feature works pretty well with the box blade to put some crown in the driveway, though.

 

I also discovered that when the ripper teeth in the box blade are fully extended, they can catch the 12" plastic culvert I had imbeded in the drive. I had the 2 teeth on the right fully extended and the rest set shorter.  Old EJ kind of grunted and jumped when he snagged the culvert, but kept on moving.  I thought I had snagged a root.  I think I can chop up a culvert coupling and glue it over the hole so I won't need to replace the whole 20' culvert.

Edited 5 hours ago by 8ntruck