Looking For Advice on Maintaining Mower Deck

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
64
Messages
24,647
No
The under side of the deck does not get much UV exposure so the POR is fine there .
 

ken2

Active Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2015
Threads
10
Messages
74
Decks will rust out from the bottom side. The grass under the deck will hold moisture and fertilizer residue. Most riding mowers these days have a washout port. You hook a garden hose to and turn the deck on. It does a fairly good job of cleaning it out. I mow a cemetery with a 32" Toro. I mow in the morning hours starting around 7 in the spring and early summer. The grass is any where from 8 to 12 inches tall. As soon as I get back to town I clean out the deck with a garden hose and nozzle. Then turn it on to dry it off. The bottom of the deck is 99% clean of any grass or grass juice. Doesn't hurt the bearing either.
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
64
Messages
24,647
Not quite so Ken
For rusting to happen you need air & water
When grass packs in solid under the deck the bacteria consume all of the air & the water much faster than the steel deck can
You will get some light rust at the edges of the clumps
I regularly clean decks that have not been touched for decades and my own decks are never cleaned underneath.

The absolute worst thing you can do is use a wash out port as the water pools under the deck and gets sucked up into the bearings.
I love them because I charge $ 50 a spindle to replace the bearings and on a good growing year I will do at least 100 spindles a year.
Nearly all of these will be on new or near new mowers, in fact I did the same mower 3 times in one season for an owner who just would not listen .
Compressed air is the best thing to use to clean under a deck as it does not promote rusting nor premature bearing failure.
Now wash out ports are a "lazy" item and like most lazy items has to be used properly .
This means washing out over a surface that can take the water, like grass then moving the mower over a solid surface and leave running with no water for at least 5 minutes then shutting down, leaving the mower in the sun to dry out .
And when that is all done, you still need to blow out the top of the deck to get rid of the loose grass that doe allow plenty of air & moisture so will accelerate rusting plus when really dry becomes a fire hazard.
Now I am newby to mower repair having only been in business for 9 years but in that time I have repaired around 50 pressed decks where they have rusted trough from the top down .
I am yet to repair a deck that has rusted through from the bottom up except for a single MTD that was stored outside under a tarp with the deck sitting flat on the grass
 

7394

Lawn Addict
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Threads
84
Messages
4,612
Anyhow, here's what I do, Never use water on mine anywhere. I keep a car ramp in back, & run the mower up it, get on my piece of cardboard & give the underside a quick but thorough scrape. Or in my shop lifted w/floor jack & jackstands. I have fashioned some various non-metallic scrapers to suit my needs.

And my Leaf blower for the outside of my Z. And FWIW: aim the blower down the engine opening, to help keep the cylinder fins clean till end of season.
 
Top