# Stainless steel mower decks?



## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

When will somebody make stainless steel mower decks? It took decades for automotive guys to finally put stainless steel exhausts on cars and trumpet how long they last. You would think that some tractor company would realize what an ad hyping they could get out of stainless decks. Imagine, no more rust, no repainting necessary, and can be polished up to almost look like chrome. Anyone hear of stainless stuff made for tractors? I think it would be a natural use for snow plows too.


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## johndeere (Sep 17, 2003)

Sounds like a good idea to me.But they will probably be made out of the same material as the hoods are.Husqvarna and a few other already do this with there push mowers.


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## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

*Cost*

I think the cost is the factor it is a great idea and I'm sure they have thought of it but most people wouldn't want to pay for it. I think they should offer it as an option though.
Jody


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## johnray13 (Oct 30, 2003)

I think it is a great idea. I would be willing to pay extra for this if it were an option. After years of dealing with my grill rusting out, I paid $750 for a stainless steel beauty this year.


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

I imagine we could take an old stainless steel sink and convert it into a mower deck.....Where's Chipmaker? We should get him working on this....:lmao:


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## John *.?-!.* (Nov 20, 2003)

While the idea of a stainless stell mower deck sounds good, it would conflict with one of the major design intentions of most lawn and garden tractor manufacturer. That intention is to persuade you that you need to buy a new one every few years.


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## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

You know John i didn't think of that but that very well could be they rust out and how many people go and buy another deck just buy a new mower.
Jody


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## Toolman (Sep 16, 2003)

*homemade ss deck*

A guy I work with made a 12 gage Stainless Steel deck for his 35 year old Cub. It took him a long time to make but he did a hell of a good job & it looks great. I told him he should'a made it 35 years ago.  
That project had to be one of those sentimental things. He also made a 3-roll, yard roller (they overlap each other) & I told him he needed to get a patent on it. It turns great and doesn't plow the turf.


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## johnray13 (Oct 30, 2003)

*Got any pictures?*

I like to see that. Can you get a picture of it?


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

*Re: Got any pictures?*



> _Originally posted by johnray13 _
> *I like to see that. Can you get a picture of it? *


Yeah, I'd like to see some pics of those tools too!


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## HERBSGT (Sep 17, 2003)

*deck*

Has anyone ever tried coating their deck with the sma stuff that they coat pickup beds with? (Rhino Lining) Seems like it might make for a quieter rust free deck. Herb


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

Where I work, we make a lot of stuff out of stainless steel sheet metal. The cost of the material is doubl that of carbon steel, but that is actually minimal compared to the labor costs. Based on my 16 years of experience in sheet metal fabrication, and design, the labor cost is much more than material costs. Also the old wives tale that it is so much harder to work with stainless is B.S. Bending, forming, layout time and welding is the same for both metals. I would estimate that the additional cost would be around $100 +/- for a deck that weighs a 100 pounds. Probably too much to add to a $999 tractor, but above the $3000 level, it is a small increase percentage wise. Deere, Cub, Simplicity, etc. garden tractors, whose owners expect a long life I think would be the market that would really appreciate stainless decks.


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## leolav (Sep 16, 2003)

I used automotive paint and clear coat (8 layers) to coat the underside of my deck. So far, only minor scratches and no chips to date (over 9 months). I did scrape the hell out of the front lip of the deck, but that was my own stupidity.


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## slipshod (Sep 19, 2003)

*never rusts*

Chips or needs sharpening


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## Stewart (Sep 17, 2003)

I don't think the Rhino liner would be the best. The surface needs to be smooth so nothing can attach to the deck. That Rhino stuff is kind of porous. I read somewhere about something called Slipcoat. I didn't do a WWW search but think it is supposed to help. 

Leo,
Did you use the same color as your tractor or just what you had lying around???
eace:


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

I remove my MMM deck each year to store for the winter and I pressure wash it to clean all of the clumped up and hardened grass underneith and then touch it up with spray paint. My deck is made out of 7 gauge steel and I doubt that it will rust out in my life time, my childeren's, or their childeren's. It is best to spray the underside of the deck with a non-sticking agent liken a solid film lubricant after touching it up with spray paint. This keeps the grass from building up to a minimum. It is also a good time to swap out blades with nice sharp replacements too!


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## Michael (Sep 16, 2003)

*Re: never rusts*



> _Originally posted by slipshod _
> *Chips or needs sharpening *


Hey Slipshod, That's how I quit mowing half my property. I have a neighbor who lives behind my property with 2 of those things and not enough room. I had him cut the fence and put a gate in and he now has a extra 2 and half acres to pasture his horses on. Sure as heck is nice not mowing the roughest part of my 5 acre lot. The horses love the extra running room provided and I keep the bambles down with the use of the horses. Win-win for both of us.


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## wheely_boy (Sep 16, 2003)

Nice looking horse, but not as nearly interesting as the one with Katherine Harris on its back.


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## slipshod (Sep 19, 2003)

*Re: never rusts*



> _Originally posted by slipshod _
> *Chips or needs sharpening *


 This Horse has an interesting heritage,Great Great Grandfather is a horse named Witez II. During World War II General Patton resued some 200 horses from the stud farms of Poland.The horses were taken overland on foot ,several hundred miles ,loaded on a ship, and brought to the U.S.
When they were at sea ,the weather was bad.They did not lose a single horse,in fact one mare foaled. There was a lot of politics involved with these horses, driving up the prices of Arab horses.
WitezII won a ton of awards and such even though he was over seventeen when he arrived in this country. His bloodline is still prized and horses that carry his blood still bring nice returns.
Patton loved horse and did not want to see these prized animals eaten by the Russian soilders.:ride:


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## Rusty_Nuts (Jan 11, 2004)

Slipcoat is used on a lot of farm equipment and can be found at any Fleet and farm type place. It does seam to chip off easy though. I like the auto undercoating in a spray can, plus it is cheap compared to that slipcoat paint.
Talking about cheap try Pam cooking spray on the bottom of your decks a few times a year, and also on the snowblowers and plow blades. It works great I think even better than oil, plus will not hurt the grass.
By the way don't try the teflon either it chips off even faster than the slipcoat.


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

I finally had a chance to ask our pruchasing agent to get me some prices on 12 ga. sheet steel as follows:

12 ga. carbon steel is $.35 per pound
12 ga s/s t-304 is $1.20 per pound
12 ga. s/s t-316 is $1.30 per pound

I was surprised to find out that s/s is approx 4 times the price of carbon steel, last time I checked (a few years ago) it was just over double. I don't do any pricing stuff at work, that is all done before I get the job and all I do is draw it up to spec.


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## wheely_boy (Sep 16, 2003)

I wonder if you can stamp stainless with the same tooling?:argh:


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

wheely boy,
We use the same tooling where I work and just use a lighter gage if stainless. We make a lot of perforated sheets for screening different materials and where a 14 ga. c/s is used, we will use 16 ga. s/s. Because of the corosion resistance, extra strength and durability, the thinner ga does not effect strength for our applications


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

> I finally had a chance to ask our pruchasing agent to get me some prices on 12 ga. sheet steel as follows:


12 ga. would be kinda flimsy if you ask me. I wouldn't go any thinner than 10 ga. My MMM deck on my 4410 is 7 ga.


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

Chief,
I agree that 12 ga would be light for a big deck. I just picked something we use a lot of at work to get an idea of price.


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## Toolman1702003 (Jul 21, 2017)

I have a self propelled mower with a stainless steel deck. Just bought it used last week


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## bbirder (Feb 26, 2006)

Approx 30 yrs ago, I purchased a 20" Snapper pushmower that had a cast aluminum deck. When I purchased it they told me the deck had a lifetime warranty. This mower has been outside exposed to the weather for at least 25 yrs and I would be willing to bet with a motor replacement it would still be functional. Very light unit to push. I doubt if the paperwork could be found to claim the warranty!


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