should I paint the bottom of my new steel deck mower?

[gooner]

Hi.Just got a great end of season deal on a new castlegarden steel deck mower.Now I know that a steel deck will eventually rust through.I think I read somewhere on the forum that it is a good idea to paint a steel deck with something like hammerite before the first use.Has anyone any experience of this,how many coats did you apply and is it worth it.Also if any of you have any other tips on keeping a steel deck in top condition,I would be grateful.Thanks

 

[threeticks]

Painting the deck would give extra protection.
Its already protected so I would say one coat of hammerite would be enough.
The most important task to preserve your lawnmower is to clean the bottom of the deck every year before you put it away for the winter.
By doing this the deck wont covered in damp grass for the winter which creates an environment for rust etc...

 

[aircobra19]

We always cleaned ours after each use. Its about 20yrs old now and theres no rust on it. We've painted it every few years.

 

[Sue Ellen]

before you put it away for the winter.

Isn't it a better idea though to start up the mower every so often in winter time. I think one of the repair guys mentioned this to me some years ago when we were having ours serviced.

 

[Carpenter]

Isn't it a better idea though to start up the mower every so often in winter time. I think one of the repair guys mentioned this to me some years ago when we were having ours serviced.

I think that's bad advice to be quite honest, conventional wisdom on this topic suggests that any lawnmower (or other small engine) being laid up for any period of time should be run until empty, have it's fuel tank drained off and the oil changed. If stale petrol is left in the tank for any period of time a "gum" deposit will form in the tank, carburettor and fuel lines, leading to problems with starting. As engine oil becomes old it is contaminated with products of combustion and water which if left in an idle engine can cause problems also. I've always drained down the fuel tank, changed the oil and cleaned the plug on my lawnmower at the end of every season and the mower always starts first time in spring! As for pretreating the deck on a steel mower- I never did it with mine, although I imagine a great treatment would be to paint it with a car underbody paint.