[Chromenut]

Hey all! So far, so good! My LA105 is running much better now that I've learned how to adjust the brake system. Finally, I can mow all the way down to the water's edge and not worry about figuring out how to turn my JD into a submarine-tractor...lol

Anyway, first question is regarding the deck : I've been out of town for over 9 months, working on the road, and now I'm back and slightly frustrated. My wife (yes, blame it on women!) left my baby in the back yard, uncovered the entire time I was gone. Now the paint on the deck is flaking off because of all the water (we live on a lake and it tends to rain quite a bit). So, gonna drop the deck off, then flip it over and see if I can jet wash all the goop underneath, then going to remove all attachments from it and - well that's where the question comes in.

First - is there a specific paint suggested for these mowers? I mean I know it's yellow, but is there some real hardy paint that won't scuff off easily?

Second - because I'm OCD and totally anal, I may just take the deck down and have it sand blasted, and instead of regular paint, maybe I should go with powder coating?

Next, here's a photo of my new blades - yes, they are expensive, and I have to finish up the edge on them, but they are supposedly the best lifting blades - that is for the grass bin thingy you have on the back side, or for mulching. Any comments on these?

Last, have my deck leveler, and supposedly leveling the deck with this tool is easy. I can tell that my deck is not at the proper height, meaning if I set it for 4 inches, it's actually cutting like 2.5 inches. Also the deck is proper from front to rear, but boy it's off from left to right. Can see that the right side is lower than the left when mowing. So, any advice and/or suggestions on deck leveling???

 

[rgd]

Regarding those blades...I have a set on my exmark. I really like them as they seem to cut up the clippings to a finer consistency without making so much vacuum that the crap comes out from in front of the deck as well as the chute. The other high lift blades will cover me with debris....makes mowing miserable. But....we have very sandy soil, so I know that plays into it some. That sandy soil also affects the longevity...the top of the "sail" lift area of the blade will get paper thin in a season.

Allso...make sure the front of the blade/deck is 1/4" lower than the rear. The rear hangers have an adjustment on the j hooks w/ springs .The part that attaches to the rear deck

 

[andy b.]

First - is there a specific paint suggested for these mowers? I mean I know it's yellow, but is there some real hardy paint that won't scuff off easily?

Second - because I'm OCD and totally anal, I may just take the deck down and have it sand blasted, and instead of regular paint, maybe I should go with powder coating?

Deere factory yellow (available at the dealer) is pretty tough. When I restored my 40U about ten years ago I used all Deere paint on it. In the 9 years I used the tractor, I never scratched through the paint or had any chip off, and I did my best to try. :lol: You do need to scuff the surface and be sure it's clean so the paint adheres well.

I'm not positive, but I wonder if the factory painting process IS powder coating, especially for things like mower decks and smaller parts.

 

[Chromenut]

Regarding those blades...I have a set on my exmark. I really like them as they seem to cut up the clippings to a finer consistency without making so much vacuum that the crap comes out from in front of the deck as well as the chute. The other high lift blades will cover me with debris....makes mowing miserable. But....we have very sandy soil, so I know that plays into it some. That sandy soil also affects the longevity...the top of the "sail" lift area of the blade will get paper thin in a season.

Allso...make sure the front of the blade/deck is 1/4" lower than the rear. The rear hangers have an adjustment on the j hooks w/ springs .The part that attaches to the rear deck

Thanks rgd, good info. I was also told that if I wasn't going to use the full mulching kit (blades plus the blocker) that I should consider wearing a mask as the grass would "float around like fine confetti". LOL... And yes, in the leveling instructions it does state to make sure the front is lower than the rear. I miss my older deck that had a roller across the front of the deck, along with the wheels at the corners in front, as that way if you lowered it too low the deck would not touch the ground. With this one, well, whomever bought it first (I bought it at 6 months old with only 93 hours on it) they improperly installed the deck wheels - they were mounted on the highest holes so if you lowered the deck it would literally drag on the ground. That is probably what started the paint flaking.

Deere factory yellow (available at the dealer) is pretty tough. When I restored my 40U about ten years ago I used all Deere paint on it. In the 9 years I used the tractor, I never scratched through the paint or had any chip off, and I did my best to try. :lol: You do need to scuff the surface and be sure it's clean so the paint adheres well.

I'm not positive, but I wonder if the factory painting process IS powder coating, especially for things like mower decks and smaller parts.

I don't believe this deck is powder coated as the paint is literally flaking off in pieces around 4"x4". Today it was misting while I was mowing so I had to run the tractor over to the side and wash her down after I was done. No jet wash, just a hose with a nice spout-head on it. More paint flaked off and all around the right side, above the grass exit and all the way back to the rear side is now totally exposed - NO PRIMER ON IT! So, going to take it and get it blasted clean before I paint it - thinking I'll paint it as the pricing on powder coating is quite high, and rather than spend hours sanding it I'm going to have them do it for me. Underneath, I'm considering doing a 'rubber dip' on it - I have a crate of the rubber dipping sauce you use for tools to make them non-conductive. If prepared appropriately, which 95% of my tools have been, then the rubber NEVER comes off. So, maybe I'll do that, don't really know yet. Either way, when I paint the up side of the deck, I have planned 2 primer coats, 12 coats of yellow (hopefully I can find John Deere Yellow), and 8 clear coats. That's how I paint everything. I'll do wet sanding between each coat, and color sanding on the final, then polishing on the last. I'm actually thinking of painting the entire tractor, even though it really doesn't need it - it's just that the paint on it isn't all that fancy, so thinking about going John Deere Green with tons of metal flakes in the clear coat... your thoughts???

 

[Chromenut]

Oh, and also, I bought this really nice dumping trailer for the tractor, with nice off-road tires on it, and it's all in black. When I set up my paint booth for painting the deck, I'm going to do some kind of color match painting on that trailer. Hope to make it cool looking, not just 'standard' John Deere...

 

[rgd]

... your thoughts???

your a nut:lol:

 

[Chromenut]

your a nut:lol:

I know but that's beside the point...lmbo....

So, figure I might as well share a picture of the outfit I wear when mowing my yard...

 

[andy b.]

your a nut:lol:

That's what I was thinking. :laugh:
But man, it should end up being nice looking! I want to see the metal flake clear coat. You could do the tinted clear coat and use a few different tints to put clear coat metallic flames on the tractor. I am being serious, not a [email protected] I think it would be pretty cool looking. Certainly unique!

As for the factory Deere colors, you can buy the paint right from the Deere dealer. That is where I always buy mine.

 

[Chromenut]

Thanks y'all! Sounds like some great ideas. First thing will be to get that deck painted, so I'll be hitting up the Deere dealer when I get some $$$ to spend. Once that's complete, I'm thinking that I like Andy's suggestions, so I may leave the stock green on the hood and add in some lightly tinted, metallic flaked yellow flames......hmmmm....