Re: (ET) Re: painting mower deck...

[dave barden <daveb speakeasy org>]

"Pay particular attention to
the drain holes under the battery boxes. Soak them well "

Jim, what are you soaking and what are you soaking with??  Baking soda
and
water to neutralize the acid???

Have you looked into using Polychain instead of "fan belts" for power
transmission?  Harley Davidson uses these toothed belts, I've seen them
used
on Electric cars and am planning to convert my EV from chain drive to
belt
drive.  Chains are noisy, dirty and constantly need adjustment.  Unless
you
enclose the chain under the tractor I can't imagine a chain lasting very
long especially if you are tilling soil or otherwise stirring up dirt
and
dust.  I have some info on Polychain I'll post when I find it or you use
a
search engine to find some urls on the subject.

Great story about about making a compressor out of a chevy!

My blasting equip is of the siphon type.  I'll definetely look into a
pressure system for the next project (the blade or the tractor itself).

I thought of and planned to put the bolts in "upside down" just to
minimize the corrosion on the threads.  Glad to hear others have done
the same.


thanks again everyone,

dave

"Jim (Cape Cod USA)" wrote:

> Dave,
>
> Is your's a siphon or pressurized blaster. Done a lot of blasting , even
> made a high volume compressor out of a Chevy st. 6. (3 running, 3
> blowing).  A pressurized blaster gives you about twice the blast power
> and have gotten quite reasonable. I sold all my big guys some years ago
> and since got a 40lb unit around 100.00 from either Northern or Harbor
> freight. Does a damn good job for the money. Don't even waste your time
> with siphon types. Been there. Use the gun for an air blow gun though.
> Great for that purpose.
>
> Be careful of silica grit (silicosis). I suggest the slag (Black Beauty)
> at auto paint supply houses. Put down a tarp and reuse it. Unlike sand,
> it breaks into sharp segments and retains it's bite.
>
> I refinish large commercial washers and dryers and find a final wash
> with a product called Metal Prep to be cheap and highly beneficial. It
> "converts "the rust and gives you a far longer lasting paint job as it
> also improves the paint to metal bond. I tend to be of your school as to
> fancy paint jobs on the ET as we work them hard. I just spray them down
> with Break Away in all the vulnerable places to preserve them for the
> day that I might want to refinish them. Actually the surface rust tends
> to give the oil something to cling to. I do the same even on our new
> autos and trucks. The frames last forever. Pay particular attention to
> the drain holes under the battery boxes. Soak them well and grease the
> whole box when the batteries are out. (I have 5 sets of good batteries
> and 7 running tractors so I switch them around occasionally for example
> if I want to use the E-12M for grading a new lawn etc. Otherwise they
> stay in the BIG boys, the 20's and our latest, the I-5. What a TORQUER.
> I may break down and put a chain in place of those slipping belts so I
> can do wheel stands. I think it might look good with wheely bars. Lost
> the 15 up to it's hubs in the marsh trying to mow along the fence line
> and after putting the chained set of wheels on the I-5 it pulled that
> sucker out like greased lightning. Wish I'd had the camera!
>
> Hope this helps. ET's forever!
>
> Jim