| I'm fifteen years in on a Wheelhorse deck, bought because while there was surface rust on the dirty side, there was no pitting. So, in '99 I removed the baffles to do a proper restoration. To get at the rust I used Dupont 5717s metal conditioner, let it do its work, wiped up with wet cloths and let sit out overnite. Was left with a very light rust, which according to POR 15 instructions is the best surface to apply the paint. First coat was silver gray which they strongly recommend for use on rusted surface, followed 1-2 hrs later with semi gloss black. In 2010 the black was losing gloss but otherwise fine...still I put down two coats of gloss gray. I use the vertical setting on a hose nozzle, it concentrates spray and leaves a clean deck. The motors have sealed bearings but keep water off them anyway. Anyone who cleans under there by scraping and wiping has the patience of Job and is deserved a special place in Heaven....I won't be there. For me using POR15 and hosing off makes mowing less chore and more fun.
As to POR15 durability, there's been some comment lately about metal fatigue (which may contribute to paint failure). I should say that I mow my own land where there's no rocks, no stumps, so no chance to damage the finish.
Cheers, Jack On May 11, 2016, at 10:28 AM, Briggs, Michael wrote:
Tim, I haven't seen that before. It seems to get really good reviews. Unfortunately, I just bought another container of POR-15 - otherwise I think I would have liked to give Chassis Saver a try. Oh well, next time. :)
Thanks,
Mike
Michael S. Briggs, PhD UNH Physics Department (603) 862-2828
Have you looked into "Chassis Saver" from Magnet Paints. Similar to Por 15, but supposedly much stronger.
Thanks Steve. I've always hosed off the underside of the deck after use to clean the grass off. What I'm thinking of doing this time is redoing the POR-15 process, but this time put a couple of coats of POR-15 on, and after it's had a month or so to cure, putting a nice auto wax/sealant on (and doing that twice a year). As a test, I put some Collinite 845 (a very good wax) on before my last mow, and everything rinsed off very easily. As long as all bare metal is painted over (and the bolts are stainless), and then covered with a nice hydrophobic sealant, I think that should be fine. Actually, here's what I can add - I can use my electric leaf blower to quickly blow any residual water off of the underside of the deck (and also use that for a quick cleaning of the top side).
Mike
Michael S. Briggs, PhD UNH Physics Department (603) 862-2828
Mike,
I've had similar struggles with POR-15 and other treatments. My last go-round, I used several coats of the POR-15 silver/gray primer after a thorough sandblasting. Didn't bother to apply a topcoat to the underside. That has stuck better than anything else thus far (several years on it now), though it is not perfect either. I have also tried to minimize my use of water under the deck, reasoning that getting it wet frequently might be worse than damp grass stuck under there. Don't really know, though.
This subject comes up from time to time on this list and I am not sure there is a foolproof solution. Someone needs to engineer an affordable composite deck... :^)
Steve When I got my E-15 ten or so years ago, I stripped it down to bare metal and painted the entire thing with POR-15 (after treating with Metal Ready, to get it to flash rust for the POR-15 to bond to), then topcoated everywhere except under the mower deck. If anyone wants to see before/after pictures , I put some here: http://pubpages.unh.edu/~msbriggs/elec-trak/Anyway - in the time since then, most of the paint has held up very well. The main issue is the underside of the deck. I always hose off the underside after mowing, but sometimes I may not get all of the grass off on the upper lip (when folded up - the part that is furthest forward when the deck is down). There are many areas where the POR-15 has failed, exposing bare metal which has started to rust again. I'm guessing some of this is from taking a beating with debris (and the occasional rock) while mowing. So, I'm wondering if there might be a better option than POR-15 - or rather something I could top the POR-15 with to give it more resistance to debris, but that would still essentially be like a paint as far as being smooth, something I could wax so that stuff doesn't stick very easily, etc.. I've looked at some undercoatings and bedliners, and many of them seem to not be slippery (for a bedliner you don't want it to be). Has anyone used an undercoating and had good experience as far as it holding up well, and also being easy to clean?
Thanks!
Mike
Michael S. Briggs, PhD UNH Physics Department (603) 862-2828
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