How to paint a mower?

Pete,sounds like you made youself one nice mower.did I miss it on what engine is in it?Also curious as how you did under the deck.I applied the recommened 2 coats of E-Zlide to the under deck of my Grasshopper right after I bought it this spring,even did the blades as suggested on the can.The blades were new and I checked them after the first mow and the graphite seemed to have wore off.I pulled the deck the other day and it appears the graphite is still on it but to what extant it helped is hard to tell.I do plan to clean and reaply the E-Zlide to the deck.I bought 2 Qts. of it at T.S.C. this spring and found that it goes a long way.I could do a whole swarm of grasshoppers with 2 qts. russ
 
173abn said:
Pete,sounds like you made youself one nice mower.did I miss it on what engine is in it?Also curious as how you did under the deck.I applied the recommened 2 coats of E-Zlide to the under deck of my Grasshopper right after I bought it this spring,even did the blades as suggested on the can.The blades were new and I checked them after the first mow and the graphite seemed to have wore off.I pulled the deck the other day and it appears the graphite is still on it but to what extant it helped is hard to tell.I do plan to clean and reaply the E-Zlide to the deck.I bought 2 Qts. of it at T.S.C. this spring and found that it goes a long way.I could do a whole swarm of grasshoppers with 2 qts. russ
Click to expand...

Hi Russ,

The engine is a Kohler CH-25 Not a terrible engine I was very surprised to find things like roller lifters.

I wish it had about 50% more HP. The displacement 750cc is ok, but more torque would be nice. A friend has a turbo charger that came on a motorcycle that he wrecked a few years ago, it could easily add an additional 10 HP.

The deck was really trashed and required about 30% of it's steel to be replaced, while I was fixing it I reinforced all of the week areas and made it so water and moisture could not be trapped. All of the irregularities on the under side were smoothed out with Kevlar reinforced epoxy that was applied to the freshly sand blasted and acid treated steel. Then I gave it three full wet coats with KBS Rust seal. They turned out very glossy and should stay that way without top coating due to the lack of UV from the sun.

I used that stuff on a 150yr old cement mixer 6 years ago. After mixing almost 200 - 80lb bags of concrete in the thing, the paint is still perfect, although it has chalked some (I didn稚 top coat it) in addition, it has not even worn off the ring and pinion that turn the barrel.

As usual, time will tell. The reason I am so paranoid about rust, is the mower will be parked out side under my deck with little more than the protection of a good tarp.
I'm 74 and figure that if I'm lucky I will need the mower to last no more that 10 years.

Since I quit drag racing a 9 second car last year, I guess I'm looking for an "E" ticket lawn mower to keep my adrenalin flowing. Possibly, I should be looking for a 1000 cc motorcycle engine. Ha ha.

I have not heard of E-Zlide, sounds interesting, I知 going to look into it today.
Thanks Russ

Pete
 
Pete,just google it ,for some reason they don't sell it online but will tell you the nearest store to buy it. also were do you get that KBS rust seal? russ
 
173abn said:
Pete,just google it ,for some reason they don't sell it online but will tell you the nearest store to buy it. also were do you get that KBS rust seal? russ
Click to expand...

Hi Russ,

The local auto paint store sells it but they won't order anything if what I want is not in stock Usually I order it on line from Stop Rust - Gas Tank Sealer - Gas Tank Liner - KBS Coatings - RustSeal in Colors
As I recall they have a flat rate shipping cost that is very reasonable.
Their Rust Seal covers very well and I always order more than I use.

Be very careful to not put it on too heavy as a skin will form on the surface and the CO2 gas that is released during curing will not be able to escape and you will get blisters

It痴 best to put on two coats to make sure that any tiny CO2 holes are filled in by the second coat.

The second coat or any top coat must be installed after the previous coat has become non sticky (usually 2 hours) but before four hours as after four hours the layers will not crosslink and there is a good chance that they will separate over time.

It doesn't keep very well once you open the can,
Every once in awhile, if I put a layer of thin plastic like saran-wrap into the can and allow it to droop down and touch the paint it will keep for several months.

Also I found if I put about 1/4 inch of their #1 thinner into the can of paint and carefully put it on the shelf, the thinner will prevent air from getting to the urethane and cause it to cure.

Thanks for the information
Pete
 
My Craftsman is 13 years old and refuses to die. It looks its age, but sure doesn't act its age (kind of like me....!) Since it looks like it's been through a war, I have considered a do it yourself camo paint job just for kicks.
 
Mean Machine said:
My Craftsman is 13 years old and refuses to die. It looks its age, but sure doesn't act its age (kind of like me....!) Since it looks like it's been through a war, I have considered a do it yourself camo paint job just for kicks.
Click to expand...

Mean Machine.
If you have a way to get the painted pieces sand blasted and you have access to a compressor I would treat the metal with phosphoric acid, let it soak very wet for an hour at 70 to 80 degrees, then wash it off with water and dry the water as quickly as possible. You can get at Home Depot. Prime everything with 2 to 3 coats of KBS Rust Seal 2 hours apart. You can get on line at kbscoatings.com. Then top coat with any good quality catalyzed urethane paint. As long as you apply the top coat within a window of 2 to 4 hours the KBS and the top coat will cross link and become one. The KBS is almost bullet proof and you will not see any rust again.

Second best if no sand blasting or compressor are available.
I would sand most of the rust off, and roughen up all the sound paint, with some very aggressive paper like 80 grit. Then treat all of the metal with phosphoric acid, Wash it off thoroughly after an hour of soaking very wet at 70 to 80 degrees. Then brush on two or three thin coats of KBS - 2 hours apart. - it self levels and will come out smooth enough. Then within 2 to 4 hours top coat with some of that new Rust-Oleum with the pistol grip shaped tops, they are capable of spraying paint almost as good as a cheap spray gun. And the paint is pretty tough. But all it needs to do is look good, as the metal is protected by the KBS. I use them when ever I don稚 want to go through the, clean the spray gun routine, and have found the paint, if allowed to cure for a few days, to be the best rattle can paint I致e come across. But nothing comes close to KBS as a primer.
Good luck
Pete
 
adan and everyone else, sorry to be so long getting back here. Business took me away.

adan, to answer your question.
The whole project took about three weeks. The only unit that didn't need paint was the main power unit and pto. The wheels took two days and were the easiest.
The main body was the real trick. It was broken in five different areas. John Deere had the body made from a form of SMC plastic and fiber strand material. It can't be fiberglased to repair. It took a two part urathane bonding glue and regular fiberglas mating. First time doing this type of repair. Real learning curve. Painting the body required a bonding agent before priming and painting. It took about a week.
The big job was taking the mowing deck and mounts a part and then reassembling after painting. Most of the parts just needed DA sanding, and use of a scuff pad. The under side of the deck was sand blasted. The top side of the deck was DA, hand, and scuf pad sanded. In between sanding I used allot of Wax and Grease remover. The really hard part, was hanging all the parts from the garage ceiling. I used two long ladders secured to the ceiling joists. then hung all the parts from the ladder rungs. Securing the ladders to joists was really important. Some of the deck mounting brackets are very heavy!! Then it was just priming and painting. This took about a week and a half.
The whole thing assembled and new decals really was only three weeks. This time is all after dinner work. It took about 40 hours total.
Hope this helps
 
Pete Lord said:
Hi Russ,

The engine is a Kohler CH-25 Not a terrible engine I was very surprised to find things like roller lifters.

I wish it had about 50% more HP. The displacement 750cc is ok, but more torque would be nice. A friend has a turbo charger that came on a motorcycle that he wrecked a few years ago, it could easily add an additional 10 HP.

The deck was really trashed and required about 30% of it's steel to be replaced, while I was fixing it I reinforced all of the week areas and made it so water and moisture could not be trapped. All of the irregularities on the under side were smoothed out with Kevlar reinforced epoxy that was applied to the freshly sand blasted and acid treated steel. Then I gave it three full wet coats with KBS Rust seal. They turned out very glossy and should stay that way without top coating due to the lack of UV from the sun.

I used that stuff on a 150yr old cement mixer 6 years ago. After mixing almost 200 - 80lb bags of concrete in the thing, the paint is still perfect, although it has chalked some (I didn稚 top coat it) in addition, it has not even worn off the ring and pinion that turn the barrel.

As usual, time will tell. The reason I am so paranoid about rust, is the mower will be parked out side under my deck with little more than the protection of a good tarp.
I'm 74 and figure that if I'm lucky I will need the mower to last no more that 10 years.

Since I quit drag racing a 9 second car last year, I guess I'm looking for an "E" ticket lawn mower to keep my adrenalin flowing. Possibly, I should be looking for a 1000 cc motorcycle engine. Ha ha.

I have not heard of E-Zlide, sounds interesting, I知 going to look into it today.
Thanks Russ

Pete
Click to expand...

make a race mower and swap around the pulleys . it will keep your heart in your throat a little :)
 
I have repainteed mowers many times and it looks brill you can either hunt down the original paint coulour which is what im doing for my next repaint. But this envolves a lot more work as you have to get the metal to the original state and then prime it. there is also a lot more money involved as you have to have the paint coulour computer analised etc.:smile:
 
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