Looking For Advice on Maintaining Mower Deck

[bertsmobile1]

No
The under side of the deck does not get much UV exposure so the POR is fine there .

 

[hlw49]

No
The under side of the deck does not get much UV exposure so the POR is fine there .

ty

 

[ken2]

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]

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]

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.