Painting the 3260 deck underneath.......

[BigBill]

I cleaned the underneath of the 3260 mower deck for the third time in 5 years now. I wire brushed and scraped the snots out of it. I even chipped the bad spots that won't come off with the welder chipping hammer. Now I have a good solid base and i'm applying the valspar red oxide primer. This time i really mixed it up good before brushing it on and its more of a cream texture than a paint. Its going on much thicker this time too. Now if i stop running rocks threw the 3260 deck i should be ok. But i'm thinking another good heavy coat of primer and maybe a coat of gloss white paint too??? What-cha think??? I'm not sure how much longer this deck will last but i'm thinking of getting some sheetmetal to have it to make a new housing. Bill

BTW; I started assemblying my 3260 sprindles with the new bearings and seals i needed one spacer that the seal rides on. Someone had this appart before and its put back together with everything mixed up. Too bad everyone can buy tools.

[Phazer]

I think most "farm" stores have a product called "slip-plate" paint. They use it in gravity wagons. Be careful putting too thick of a layer on there, it might take a real loooong time to dry.

Rust-oleum is also a softer/slicker paint and is easily available most everywhere.

Just my .02 worth . . .

[Rudi]

After you get it painted you can get a spray on graphite coating that will keep the grass from sticking to the paint. About $7.00 a rattle it isn't a bad deal. One can would probably last you at least 2 maybe 3 coats for 1 deck. Of course, you have to stay away from rocks and other grit which will sandblast a deck's underbelly real quick. Nope.. don't ask why I know that The graphite does the same job as the slip-plate but is cheaper. May not last as long depending on your situation but it is another option.

[BigBill]

At this rate i'll be needing a new deck soon. I just turned the deck around and coated the other half with the valspar red primer too i put a real heavy coat on it this time. I hammered the surface to get the bubbly metal from it too. The stuff that won't come loose with the wire wheel. I used the welder chipper hammer too so i'm sure all the loose stuff is off of it. I know hitting small rocks that go around like a ball in a pinball machine is whats doing it too. I need to be more careful now. I may apply a coat of rustoleum white too and maybe some slip it stuff next too. I been wondering if my high water table here when i park the tractor has something to do with the rust too. Bill

[BigBill]

How about???? Go to; http://www.cleandeck.net its for snowblowers too. I hope it works. I need something for my IH cc snow throwers too. I'd like to speed them up too somehow. Bill

[outdoors4evr]

My snowthrower may be a good test area for that slip-paint. It plugs up on occasion in the thick, heavy snowbanks. As for the speed, just make sure your tractor is running the specified RPM's. My 184 needed adjustment so it would get the 2050 RPM's at the PTO.

I have also tried to run the blower with a 6" pulley on the PTO (leaving the small pulley on the bottom). Didn't work so well. The tractor had to work really hard just to keep it turning. Maybe a 4.5" or 5" would be more practical. The 4" is just barely enough on a 184.

[b52c130]

Bill,
I would be careful about putting on too much (multi-layered thick coats) of that primer. Too thick a paint film is actually more prone to chipping when struck by flying objects (stones). 'More' is not always better.

[BigBill]

Bill,
I would be careful about putting on too much (multi-layered thick coats) of that primer. Too thick a paint film is actually more prone to chipping when struck by flying objects (stones). 'More' is not always better.

Dam most of you guys are always one step ahead of me and right too. I put two heavy coats of the red rust primer. At first I wire brushed the deck and then used a welding chipping hammer to get the swollen hard rust off the surface too. Now i'm painting a good solid surface. In the past with rust i have had very good results with the alumimum spray paint. I also notice its slippery too on the finish. My chimney pipe in VT since '87 is still rust free and i used the single wall pipe but i have a few coats of the alumimum paint on it. I need to avoid rocks for sure. I have a few land mines that stick up in the high grass that i can't see until i clobber them. Being new to mowing machines with just 6 years experience with mowing now right now i'm mowing with my cadet 108 and my cadet 1200 and i'm learning to keep the deck one click higher than normal so i don't hit the land mines. Its working and no rock grinding yet. Now i need to setup my 3260 deck the same way with the trailing wheels set higher than normal. It doesn't matter where the grass is at height wise as long as the land mines don't get hit.

I wish they made a brush on plastic coating for inside the decks.

Right now the spindles are all assembled and bolted in the deck housing. My next step is to sharpen the blades, check the balance and install them and then adjust the bearing preload on the three spindles and grease them again. Then i need to paint the top side of the deck next. Between installing new bearings in the 3260 deck and in the PTO i shouldn't hear anymore of that nasty growling.

At some point in time i need to drop what i'm working on and get my snow removal stuff ready for the winter. Then i can return back to my repairs. I'm hoping to be done with everything so i can get back to my FEL project. I figure to put it in the garage so i can work on it all winter if it takes that long.

I have one more problem all my 3 int154's are different. My first int154 has the 3260 mower deck with the 3pt hitch, my second 154 is my fel/back hoe project but i'm installing a creeper in it too and my third int154 has the creeper with the IH 54" blade. Number 1 154 is a newer one while the number 2 & 3 are the older 154's. My point is i wish i had a creeper with the 3pt hitch then i can use the bigger 154 tiller on it. Having one int154 with all the options would be nice and more vesital. (spelling sorry) Plus i have my eye on a two stage snowblower too. After last season i figure the snow this comming season we will measure it in feet, many feet i'm sure.

[b52c130]

Bill,
They do make a brush-able plastic heavy duty paint --- it is called POR-15.

Great Stuff !!! After it cures (a week or so for maximum) it is almost impossible to get off, even using a sand blaster. It gets soo hard that you have to 'top coat' (finish color coat) within 24 hours or else the top coat won't stick to it.

And when they say don't get it on your hands - they mean it. I sprayed a car frame with it once (using a gun) and when I went to clean the gun with lacquer thinner, I removed the gloves (they would have melted anyhow). The thinned out residual POR-15 (black) got on my hands and DIDN'T come off. I used a finger nail brush and straight Clorox for three hours to clean my hands (actually they ended up red instead of black).

POR-15 would be the stuff to use on the bottom of the deck, if you never wanted to ever have to do it again.