# Mower Deck Undercoat?



## raylinkz

I've not really thought about it much, but in another forum, someone mentioned they used undercoat protection on their mower deck. This sounds like a good idea that I may try when I remove my mower deck for the winter. 

Anyone on this forum have thoughts or experience with this procedure?


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## lsmurphy

Pretty much a waste of time and money in my opinion.

Mine stays rust free from use.

Most think they will avoid cleaning by having a non-stick surface...dreamers....

Scott


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## wjjones

Wishful thinking, although i do wonder how Herculiner, or Rhino truck bed liner would work? I was leaning toward trying the Herculiner because it is not a rough material like Rhino. I have a neighbor who uses pam cooking sray and it works pretty good.


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## Hoodoo Valley

I'm not bragging now......But I have never cleaned the deck on my 1983 John Deere 316, and it's held up just fine. Still solid as the day it was new. I did have some rust pitting under the safety covers for some reason, and so I removed them so I could blow the grass and dirt out, and just run it with the belts exposed.


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## BERMUDA KEN

I paint my deck with a graphite based paint. Slip Plate is one of the national brand names of this product. This is readily availible at better tractor dealers and most hardware stores. 

It works great on snowblower/snowthrower chutes too. It keeps ice from sticking!!!


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## dangeroustoys56

Before i moved south, i used undercoat and krylon fusion paint while the undercoat was still wet- fused right together) on the underside of my tractor decks - wasnt for a non stick coating, was to keep the rust away between cleanings- it held up better up north, because down here its all sand- just sandblasts all the paint off anyway.

Good rule of thumb is to clean the decks a couple times a season- in the fall when its put away and after some mowing in the summer- id paint the underside of the deck in the fall. Checking them is also good to see if any parts/berings need replacing.


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## rsmith335

I spray my yard with oil oil before I mow and don,t have any build up problems in the deck. But it takes 6 weeks before the grass starts growing again. Sorry! I like the idea of the spray nozzels with a top side connection.


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## Mickey

Newbie jumping in here.

As the old saying says, "location, location, location". In some areas, grass/dirt build-up isn't a problem but other locations it is a constant battle. I live in an area where this is an issue.

I've tried the spray-on coating made for this application and have not had much luck with it. After a few seasons I've found the factory paint isn't holding on as good as you would like. A couple yrs ago I gave a try to one of the brush on bed liners one can find at the big box stores. So far is has worked great. Have only had to touch up once in the 3-4 yrs since I first applied. Where I've had to touch up it seems to be where more factory paint has let go.

I'm not so sure about bed-liners like Rhino and other spray-on polyurethane coatings. Polyurethane has a fairly high coe of friction and might not help with wet grass sticking.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Wonder why the manufacturers don't galvanize the mower decks. Mine is fine underneath, but rusted and pitted pretty good under the belt shields which I recently removed, so I could blow it off after each mowing.


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## Mickey

Galvanize is a process of coating steel with a zinc oxide coating. Zinc is water soluble which may account for this treatment not being seen often on items being subjected to moisture on a regular basis. On the plus side, zinc coatings are self healing when scratched.


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## Hoodoo Valley

I was aware of the water soluble issue, but they use it in cars as a rust preventitive, chiefly in the areas that would accumulate mud or salt induced mud in those areas. I did not however, know that the galvanize coatings would self heal if scratched. Pretty darn cool. They have some awesome plastics these days that would make some excellent mower decks I bet.


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## dalbin

*mower deck coating*

I tried Grizzly Grip out of Florida (get the smooth stuff in black, two coats will do it, about 1/8 to 3/16" thick, applies with an under coating gun). I fixed/welded up the deck first, had it blasted (underside only), used their epoxy primer and than their coating. Deck is a 54" off a HT20 Bolens, (35 years old and need to make it last). The deck never gets cleaned like it supposed to, but only 3-4 areas collect and hold grass. The rest is self cleaning, hence the few areas to fix. The coating is similar to Rhino/etc. It is an aromatic polyurethane base (very flexible), The sales lady was knowledgable and she said a few people have tried it and it is working very good for them. So far it seems to clean itself, even the trouble areas. This is the first year, so when I take it off this winter, I will do a thorough inspection. I thought if it holds on trucks (still good after 10-15 years in the sun and elements), why not the mower deck? Rocks and debris do bounce off it. It has not shown any areas of detaching or wearing off (even on the runners which contact the ground), Their website shows firetrucks parked on it (being used as a concrete floor reapair), turning their front wheels and not tearing or stretching the coating. Total cost was $68.00 including shipping. The local Rhino lining company wanted $200.00 just to coat, no primer, or metal prep so I did it myself.

Duane


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## raylinkz

"I tried Grizzly Grip out of Florida (get the smooth stuff in black, two coats will do it, about 1/8 to 3/16" thick, applies with an under coating gun)." 

Thanks dalbin; this sounds like it could be just what I'm lookin' for. I'll try to keep you posted when I'm able to get it applied.

Paul


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## dangeroustoys56

Manufacturers want your tractor to fall apart after so many years- then can sell you thier latest model- if they galvanized the decks and made things last longer - theyd be out of business.

One tractor i have has been pretty amazing - a '82 dynamark- still has factory paint on the top of the original deck ( couple scratches obviously) and im still using the original deck blades and still running the original 11HP motor. Cant say that for new stuff today.


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## IH farm boy

try POR15 they use it in car restorations it will stick to anything , just scrub the loose stuff off with a wire brush and slather it on it gets very hard and smooth , we used it on a truck frame and you literally have to take a grinder to it and it still barley comes off. it takes a lot of sand blasting too , i belive summit racing equipment carries it or look it up online , and you can use reagular paint supplies to put it on


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## briggs

wjjones said:


> Wishful thinking, although i do wonder how Herculiner, or Rhino truck bed liner would work? I was leaning toward trying the Herculiner because it is not a rough material like Rhino. I have a neighbor who uses pam cooking sray and it works pretty good.




I used Rhino on mine works great


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