New Lawnmower Question

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Saw a sweet clearance deal at work on a new lawnmower so I bought it. What should I spray the underneath of the mowing deck with to protect it as long as possible. Was told rocker guard by 2 guys at work, I always just cleaned them out at the end of the season & painted them, but I've also always bought a cheap mower too. Thoughts?
 
I don't see the need for any coatings as long as you knock the clumps out from under there after each use.

Joel
 
I've tried spray silicone so the grass wads would just fall off or brush off easy. Didn't help much.
Discharge chute still plugs up with juicy grass.
 
My recommendation? Take the deck off & have Line-X do their magic to the underside. It will be pretty much indestructible after that.
 
For $200 I'm not sure it's worth a lot of attention. In corrosion tests on the firearm forum, WD-40 seems to protect about just as well as the expensive gun oils. My thought is that you flip it on its side, (carb on top so it won't flood), hose it down, and spray and wipe WD-40 when it seems to need it. Just watch out for the clutch plates if it has those.
FWIW I paid almost $700 for a Honda commercial over 15 years ago, and I'm still just changing the oil and checking the spark plug. It's easier to handle than those cheapies and doesn't end up being a workout just to mow the lawn.
Steve
 
First; you asked what I paid, not what it's worth. Second ;every piece of equipment I buy is treated like it will be my last. If I didn't care to look after it, why would I have asked this question in the first place.
 
When I bought my Woods 7' mower deck, I took it home, cleaned the paint/light dust off, and coated the entire deck with a farm supply product like Lubriplate. Now - 4 years later, you can't tell I did anything to it. My point is that I'm not sure much of anything will keep rust at bay under a mower deck. For all the abrasion they get, coupled with the moisture, I think rust is a certainty. The only mowers I've seen that have rusted through have been 30+ years old, and sat unused for extended periods.

For $200, you'll get so much use out of that mower, regardless of under-deck treatment, that you're far ahead of the game just to clean out the deck everyonce in a while. You could, as someone suggested, get a bed-liner sprayed in, but at that point you've sunk some serious money into what was probably supposed to be an inexpensive purchase.
 
I have to agree with dnewton. It's not just the grass that swirls around under the deck, but there's also rocks, dirt, and twigs that get flung at the surface. There's not a whole lot you can do to protect the surface from ablation. Any coating would wear away.

I just rinse mine off after every use.
 
Originally Posted By: Kestas
I have to agree with dnewton. It's not just the grass that swirls around under the deck, but there's also rocks, dirt, and twigs that get flung at the surface. There's not a whole lot you can do to protect the surface from ablation. Any coating would wear away.

I just rinse mine off after every use.
DITTO.
 
My point in asking how much you paid is that there isn't really anything that needs to be done. I have a 15 year old mower that I paid $130 for that has never had anything done to the deck besides scraping caked on grass off.
 
I do a quick scraping of the underside of my tractor deck and push mower with a pc of wood. Those big (5gal pail) paint stirrers work well and allow you to reach w/out removing the deck. From there I fire up the leaf blower and do a quick blow-off. Do this and a stamped steel deck will fail from stress/fatigue before it rusts through. Fab'd steel decks will last probably several times longer.

Joel
 
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MaritimeStorm, I agree with the sentiments of most others here ... there's not much you can do to prevent grass build-up.

However, other than being a pain, grss won't warm the underside of the mower deck too much ... unless it builds up and stays damp. Even grass build-up that accumulates usually dries in a few days and does no harm (does not promote corrosion).

However, you might try a DIYer rustproofer/sound deadener undercoat sold to "protect" the underside of cars (spray or paint-on). Be sure to apply this to an absolutely bone dry deck as any moisture trapped by an amateurish application can lead to significant corrosion (worse than using no protection at all).

If you have sandy soil, don't expect this coating to last too long ... same thing if you scrape the grass off with a hard tool, especially a metal one.

(I too will treat cheap tools/equipment well ... it's a zen thing.
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POR-15 is a good idea.

Id also consider the amsoil HD MP metal protector, which is an aerosol, and leaves a waxy film. With that, and occasional knocking off of the grass clumps, I think youll be fine. If you re-spray some MP at the start/end of the season to re-cover the rock and twig hits, I think itll do great and be easy to service.

JMH
 
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