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Mower Deck Cleaning

1455 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  KATT
I decided to pull the deck off of my x748 tonight to try out my mower axle deck stands and to clean the underside of my deck. After I had it standing upright I noticed that the previous owner didn't believe in cleaning the underside of the deck. I've mowed 2 or 3 times with it (reseeded most of my yard, plus it hasn't rained much this summer), so I'm pretty sure all the caked up grass wasn't from me. I took a 3 inch putty knife and started scraping away. In some places I got to where I could see some yellow paint, other areas had a little surface rust (at least I hope its only surface rust), and some areas no matter how much I scraped I couldn't see any paint or rust. It was just the blackish greenish color that I couldn't get through even using the corner of my putty knife.

Anyone have any suggestions on something I could use to get down to the paint on the underside of the deck so I can spray some Rustoleum and repaint. I've got a pressure washer, but I've read that you shouldn't use them on decks due to water getting in the spindles or bearings. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
J
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My deck, before and after a pressure wash, the only reason I cleaned it was due to having to install a new belt.





It is 25 years old, I ain't painting it! That is the first time it has been cleaned in 10 years, or how long I have owned it.

I just keep it dry during storage.
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The black areas in the second picture is how my deck looks in the spots where I can't see yellow. If I pressure washed it and got it to look like yours, do you think I'd need to sand it down to bare metal to put some rustoleum on it?
Paint usually does not withstand sandblasting, which, IMHO, is what is going on when the blades suck up sand from the earth.

Those blades "lift" more than the grass, don't they? :dunno:

That is why I make sure I keep the deck in a dry storage.

I think my deck will survive another 25 years, then somebody else can worry about it!! :sidelaugh

If the deck rusts, that is removed each mowing. Then, you will start seeing holes.

In either case, the paint will do little, again, IMHO.
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