How to keep the underside of your mower deck slick as sn-t

[Dumb_Polack]

Hit a rock yesterday with the JD so I slipped the deck off and inspected the blades.  I re-sharpened them and while I had the deck upside down, I used a wire brush-type attachment in the drill to remove most of the stuck on grass.  I would have done a more thorough job, but I was under a time crunch.  Re-installed the deck and she works fine.

While I was removing the stuck on grass I thought there must be a way to keep the underside as slick as snot, somewhat.  I see there are coatings I can spray on, but what has worked for you in the past?

I was thinking about taking the mower deck inside for the winter, scraping/cleaning it down, spay painting it with a gloss rattle can and then applying car wax to it.  (a nice lil inside winter project, no?)  Would that work or do you have an easier, more effective solution?

If it matters, it's a side discharge JD and I bag the grass.


Thanks!

[Bill Wilson]

The underside of a mower deck is a pretty harsh environment.  I doubt any application of paint, wax or other coatings will last very long.  I've painted (rattle can Rustoleum) the underside of decks before and most of the paint was gone by the next mowing season.  I've gone the other way and slathered on a coat of used motor oil.  It didn't hold up either, but it did seem to help a little more with rust prevention.

I've often wondered how a powder coated deck would do.  I know Husqvarna went to powder coating decks (at least on some models) some years back, but I don't know if they still do it.  I bought a new Husq a couple years ago and it doesn't have a powder coated deck. It may be an option on other models.  Don't know.

[6270_Productions]

If the decks did not rust out, there would be no reason to buy a new mower.

[MstrCarpenter]

Rust reformer and a few coats of oil base paint (Still available in quarts here!) brushed on. It'll need a few more coats every year, but mostly in the high wear areas. I've also become a fan of the garden hose connection on the mower deck. Turn on the water then fire up the deck. The entire bottom is pressure washed in a few seconds. No more stuck on grass clippings.

[rwe2156]

My SCAG stays pretty clean so I think a lot depends on the design of the deck. I just knock off a couple areas where the accumulations with I change blades.

I've seen some mowers with hose attachments built into the deck. Not sure how well they work or if they are even a good idea.

[Bill Wilson]

I've seen some mowers with hose attachments built into the deck.  Not sure how well they work or if they are even a good idea.

My Husqvarna has one.  I used it when it was brand new, for the first 4-5 times I mowed with it.  I will say that it worked fairly well.  I quit using it, because of the time it took.  In the Spring, with everything else going on, I'm scrambling to get the grass mowed in what little time I have available.  It just got to be too big of a PIA to do it every time.  If you don't keep up with it, then once stuff starts to build up, it doesn't work well enough to make it worthwhile IMHO.  SO I abandoned it all together and just resign myself to scraping a few times a season, when I sharpen blades.

[jteneyck]

My SCAG stays pretty clean so I think a lot depends on the design of the deck.  I just knock off a couple areas where the accumulations with I change blades.

I've seen some mowers with hose attachments built into the deck.  Not sure how well they work or if they are even a good idea.

Same here.  My new to me 25 year old Scag walk behind stays pretty clean under the deck and the paint is still almost 100 %.  I pressure washed it a few weeks ago and looked at it a couple of days ago.  For the most part, it's still clean.  One of the things that surprised me about the Scag is how fast the blades spin.  Maybe all commercial mowers run like that.  I don't know, but the thing sounds like a jet about to take off.  I imagine it's made to run that way so that it can mow effectively at speeds far beyond what I can walk at.  I suspect a side benefit is those screaming blades keep the deck clean.  

John

[vernonator]

Same here.  My new to me 25 year old Scag walk behind stays pretty clean under the deck and the paint is still almost 100 %.  I pressure washed it a few weeks ago and looked at it a couple of days ago.  For the most part, it's still clean.  One of the things that surprised me about the Scag is how fast the blades spin.  Maybe all commercial mowers run like that.  I don't know, but the thing sounds like a jet about to take off.  I imagine it's made to run that way so that it can mow effectively at speeds far beyond what I can walk at.  I suspect a side benefit is those screaming blades keep the deck clean.  

John

My ExMark was the same way, deck stayed remarkably clean compared the to the Cub Cadet rider I had prior. I think part of it is the blades and blade speed, comercial tend to spin faster and use high lift blades that really fling the clippings out.

[Snipe Hunter]

The key is to only mow dry grass. Makes it a lot easier to keep clean.

[jteneyck]

The key is to only mow dry grass. Makes it a lot easier to keep clean.

I once was traveling with a colleague in the UK.  Not surprisingly, it rained a lot while I was there.  Surprisingly, I saw people nearly every day mowing their lawns.  I asked my colleague why people mowed in the rain.  He looked at me like I was clueless and said, "If we didn't mow in the rain, we'd probably never mow.".  Conditions aren't always ideal, and it's nice to have a mower that can handle it.  

John