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How do you rustproof a mower? I know a mower should never get rust but I have a friend who has no place to store hers but under a tarp.

Noodle, is it rusting?There is a paintable medium you can apply but off the top of my head can't think of what it;s called.I'm sure if you google rustproffing it will come up.If no rust and no shed a tarp is better than nothing. russ

A tarp is indeed better than nothing but it still makes me shiver. Can you convince your friend to get something to put the mower in? There are some cheap solutions for mower storage these days.

I did mine with just simple Rustoleum paint from Home Depot. Cost me about $7.00 for two cans of the stuff and I've seen no rust on my mower since (3 years now !).

Keep it as clean as possible and it should take a long time before any rust shows up... :smile:KennyV

I use WD-40 on lots of my garden equipment. At the end of the season I scrub all my gear up, let it dry out real good, sharpen everything and give all the metal parts a light spraying of WD-40---even my shovel and pitchforks and such.

WD-40. I hadn't thought of that. I'll give that a try on my shovels and pitchforks. Even though I clean all the stable equipment religiously, the humidity that we get in July and August, just makes all the equipment rust up so easily. So thanks MowTown for you suggestion. My mower doesn't get very rusty, at least not yet. It is fairly new, and I wipe it down every time I use it.

Whatever you do, do not spray WD40 into the control cable housing because it will cause them to rust and break. Now, I realize this doesn't make any sense because WD40 is supposed to be a lubricant and so forth, but it will. I recently spent $20 to replace a control cable and the technician asked if I had sprayed WD40 into the cable housing. I replied yes and asked how did he know and he told me that they sell more replacement cables to people who used WD40 than those who never used anything. The best thing to do if your mower should get wet is to blow the cables dry with compressed air.

Just a word to the wise...

I never knew what was in WD-40 so I looked it up: here's the wiki page. A slightly surprising quote:

WD-40's formula is a trade secret. The product is not patented in order to avoid completely disclosing its ingredients.

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I agree that the best thing to do is put the mower in some kind of shed, even if it's makeshift.

Buy one that has a aluminium base then you do not have to worry..........lol
Mowers are cheap so who cares if it lasts 5 years , count your blessings.

CarlGlas said:

because WD40 is supposed to be a lubricant

.

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There are good lubricants and there are bad lubricants...
WD 40 IS NOT a lubricant...
There are a lot of people that use it as such...
If you want a lube use silicon, graphite or oil/grease... If you want a penetrating oil use PB Blaster, or the like, but don't use WD40 ... If you have and you think it did the job of a penetrating oil, most likely any liquid would have done the job...

As a to flush water from something like a distributor cap WD40 works good... If your using it to flush something out... DON'T forget to lube it with lubricant after using WD40... :smile:KennyV

To keep your mower from rusting, at the end of the season, make sure any old dry clipping have been cleaned from the deck and give everything a good spray of oil or other lubricant (not WD-40). I even put a coat of wax on my mower at the end of the season.

Well Kenny, according to WD40's website, the product is a lubricant.
2000+ WD-40 Uses | Remove Paint, Rubber Adhesive, Rust Stains, & More

KennyV said:

There are good lubricants and there are bad lubricants...
WD 40 IS NOT a lubricant...
There are a lot of people that use it as such...
If you want a lube use silicon, graphite or oil/grease... If you want a penetrating oil use PB Blaster, or the like, but don't use WD40 ... If you have and you think it did the job of a penetrating oil, most likely any liquid would have done the job...

As a to flush water from something like a distributor cap WD40 works good... If your using it to flush something out... DON'T forget to lube it with lubricant after using WD40... :smile:KennyV

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CarlGlas said:

Well Kenny, according to WD40's website, the product is a lubricant.

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In the strictest seance of lubrication ... Water is also a lubricant.... it is just not necessarily a good lubricant for many applications... :smile:KennyV

MSDS for WD-40

KennyV said:

There are good lubricants and there are bad lubricants...
WD 40 IS NOT a lubricant...

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Not a lasting one nor is it a good one.

We do carry a can of it on the farm tractors in case we drop a nut or bolt in the dirt, then we use it to wash off the dirt from it.

Use some Fluid Film for protecting your equipment all winter long......and then some ! :thumbsup:

Sammy the Red said:

Not a lasting one nor is it a good one.

We do carry a can of it on the farm tractors in case we drop a nut or bolt in the dirt, then we use it to wash off the dirt from it.

Use some Fluid Film for protecting your equipment all winter long......and then some ! :thumbsup:

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I think I might describe it as a POOR lubricant...
But as you say it is a GREAT parts wash... I use it to flush out hydraulic Quick couples... and anyting else that might collect dirt & dust... :smile:KennyV

They have stuff to 'convert' rust - big trucks use this stuff called POR-15 - they have rust converter paint at any auto parts store.

I agree- even a tarp is better then leaving uncovered- i used to ( and still do for my project tractors) use tarps and plastic sheeting- when covered with a tarp i always use a plastic garbage bag over the motor - my runners or either in my wooden shed or autoshelter garage- back before i bot the new one, i had a 'temp garage' i put plastic and old tarps down on the ground- my tractors would get filthy when it rains- i dumped quite a few wheelbarrow fulls of driveway stone in there to help keep em drier and up off the ground.

Could probably use spray in bedliner material to undercoat the tractor chassis's.

Big lots, and some other stores carry those square shaped tarps made just for mowers it fits right down over it to keep it covered, and out of the weather..

Rose said:

WD-40. I hadn't thought of that. I'll give that a try on my shovels and pitchforks. Even though I clean all the stable equipment religiously, the humidity that we get in July and August, just makes all the equipment rust up so easily. So thanks MowTown for you suggestion. My mower doesn't get very rusty, at least not yet. It is fairly new, and I wipe it down every time I use it.

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WD-40 is good alternative but it still wipe out in time, especially when it is been rained. It is better to apply rustproof paint on the parts where it is not painted.

when working on motors of any kind that involves getting my hands covered in thick black grease i use wd-40 spray on hand and it breaks it down before i wash them properly, on another note i just bought a old push reel (cylinder) mower for ｣10 which has quite a bit of surface rust on it and was wondering the best methods of getting rid of the rust, its quite rare but works like a dream but i can find very little on the internet about it, its actually how i found this forum its a "greens zephyr" if any one can tell me any thing about it i would really appreciate it

I have a rust problem with my Wheel Horse. I store it in side year around. The reason for the rust problem is that I only use it for snow removal. The town puts a lot of salt on the road for ice control and when I have to clean the big snow bank from the road edge it get covered with salt. I find for my rust problem every few years I just sand off the rust scale and repaint with a paint brush. I first give it a coat of the brown rusty primer and then a coat of color. The tractor is 22 years old and no rust holes yet in the tractor part but I have some holes started in one of the snow blower frames. I would say keep your mower covered the best you can and off the ground. Then every few years give it a fast sanding to remove the rust scale and repaint. If you do this it should last for years. The biggest problem I have is the seat which I am on the third one now. I have been replacing it with salvage yard seats.

lizard said:

Buy one that has a aluminium base then you do not have to worry..........lol
Mowers are cheap so who cares if it lasts 5 years , count your blessings.

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I would put a blanket between the tarp, or use a quality car cover. A regular tarp will trap condensation and moisture under it and enhance rust. I think WD40- has silicone in it which permeates plastic, then if sunlight hits it, the molecular structure breaks down, similar to armour all attacking plastic. the effect is worse with polycarbonate plastics so I only use lanoline spray inhibitor.

WD-40 is actually the name they came up with for the 40th try for a formula for Wet Displacement.

use DuPont Imron paint, that stuff could survive a nuclear attack

shailer2000 said:

when working on motors of any kind that involves getting my hands covered in thick black grease i use wd-40 spray on hand and it breaks it down before i wash them properly, on another note i just bought a old push reel (cylinder) mower for ｣10 which has quite a bit of surface rust on it and was wondering the best methods of getting rid of the rust, its quite rare but works like a dream but i can find very little on the internet about it, its actually how i found this forum its a "greens zephyr" if any one can tell me any thing about it i would really appreciate it

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its actually a pretty rare(old) machine, dont know much though...

midnite rider said:

WD-40 is actually the name they came up with for the 40th try for a formula for Wet Displacement.

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According to Wilkepedidia, WD-40 stands for "Water Displacement 40th Attempt".
WD-40 was developed in 1953 by Norm Larsen, founder of the Rocket Chemical Company and was first used by Convair to protect the outer skin of the Atlas missile from rust and corrosion.

the best way to save anything made of metal.. is sandblast the metal then powdercoat it.. underneath use a rubber sealer, this will keep grass and water away from the engine.. but to slow down any more damage, don't cut grass when its wet.. and blow out underneath the deck..

find you something similar to this product.

Catalog Item Display

The Brits here should have pretty easy access to Waxoyl.
Here in the states, it's not as easy to find.

I know this is an old thread, but here is a suggestion. Spray on bed liner on the deck, both top and bottom. I did this 8 years ago on my craftsman and it's still going strong.

Hello all , I am a new visitor to this site and if I may I would like to offer my experience with our JD L110. It is now six years old and twice a season ( Dec-Apr) I will remove the deck and clean it then prior to the winter storeage it again comes off and gets cleaned then brushed down with the oil from the seasonal oil change. The innards under the floor pan get the same treatment and so far no repairs or rust yet. I do cold gal any dings as I come across them. Regards

I read what I thought was a good suggestion. Change the engine oil, save the old oil, take putty knife, scrape the loose clippings, wire brush the fine stuck clipping, take an old paint brush, using the old oil coat the inside of the deck. :thumbsup: Sharpen the blades in this process.

Snowman829 said:

I read what I thought was a good suggestion. Change the engine oil, save the old oil, take putty knife, scrape the loose clippings, wire brush the fine stuck clipping, take an old paint brush, using the old oil coat the inside of the deck. :thumbsup: Sharpen the blades in this process.

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WELCOME to LMF...

I have done that in the past, when storing out of season...
Since I have switched to oil changes in the Spring, I have not done that... It's one of those things that we use to do long ago... I couldn't tell you for sure that it makes a big difference... but I know I thought it did at the time... :smile:KennyV

I have had folk query me when I was last out sump oiling the front posts and pailings, a practice common years ago yet not seen today...regards