Wheel Horse Paint Recommendations

[Just getting started 22]

Been reading about all this painting of this color, that color, aerosol vs mixing. My real question is has anybody thought of using or have you used powder paint? My grandson is getting a powder painting set up for Christmas for the restoration he does of the old Tonka trucks instead of aerosol. I understand a person would need a bid oven or IR light to bake it off with, but it would be durable.

[Damien Walker 246]

4 hours ago, Just getting started said:

Been reading about all this painting of this color, that color, aerosol vs mixing. My real question is has anybody thought of using or have you used powder paint? My grandson is getting a powder painting set up for Christmas for the restoration he does of the old Tonka trucks instead of aerosol. I understand a person would need a bid oven or IR light to bake it off with, but it would be durable.

Hello...I use powder coat for most things now...it is tougher than anything but does tend to chip. It is also potentially rather thick. I use an ordinary domestic oven @180c I think and for approx 10-15mins. The best bit about it is that you can go from a bare part to a finished part very quickly. I use zinc loaded undercoat if a more durable finish is required and I usually blast clean too as this also gives a good key for the paint. Bad clean up is disastrous if the item is going to live outside. If water gets underneath the paint, it will eventually flake off the increasingly rusty metal so make sure it is properly clean and keyed before you start.

 

Cleaning time depends on the size of the item but small brackets can be cleaned, undercoated, top coated and cooled down within an hour....I usually apply the top coat to the hot undercoated item (hot flocking) as this helps reduces the high voltage shadowing effects that can  stop the paint getting into corners.

[PetesPonies1 117]

If you use a quality urethane clear, your painted items will be very durable. I paint, I have also done some powder coating. I prefer top paint. 

[oliver2-44 10,094]

@PetesPonies1 do you know if it works to put a urethane clear top cot over a non urethane base. Such as over single stage acrylic or even Rustoleum oil base enamel with hardener 

[PetesPonies1 117]

43 minutes ago, oliver2-44 said:

@PetesPonies1 do you know if it works to put a urethane clear top cot over a non urethane base. Such as over single stage acrylic or even Rustoleum oil base enamel with hardener 

So . . by the book . .definitely a no-no. Have I cheated a few times and seen decent results? Yes, sometimes. But when trying something new, you have to be ready for failure. So .. if the paint has a hardener in it and you let it cure, then your chances are pretty good. You will have to scuff though before the clear. Spraying it wet -on-wet as you would for BC/CC . .then it depends. and I believe it has a lot to do with thickness. I have sprayed some tractor wheels with "tractor" paint, then cleared. Sometimes it worked out well and other times the final finish was not as smooth as it was when first sprayed. So it reacted some with the "base" paint. BC is very, very close to lacquer in it's make-up. Very thin, and the vehicle comes out very fast. That way it is ready to be cleared in a relatively short time,  . .15 minutes to an hour, or the next day, etc. But enamel is slow to cure, has a lot of vehicle in it to come out and that is the major reason for problems when you spray a clear over it that will cure in 5 minutes, 30 minutes or a few hours. You are trapping chemicals that need to come out. Some spray can tractor paint . .let it cure over night,warm days . . then hit it with a coat of clear and it might work out ( I have had  it work ). BUT . .definitely not the way it is supposed to be used 

[Damien Walker 246]

20 hours ago, PetesPonies1 said:

If you use a quality urethane clear, your painted items will be very durable. I paint, I have also done some powder coating. I prefer top paint. 

If you want a show quality finish, then I would agree. Carefully applied multiple coats of 2 pack paint will give you a very durable, uv resistant and beautiful result.....but it takes a lot of time and effort to achieve this. I have to admit to only requiring a durable finish suitable for a working machine, in which case, powder coat wins hands down if you have an oven big enough! I get the big stuff done professionally and the finish is better than anything I can achieve with wet paint. The other disadvantage about powder is the selection of colours that are available...wet paint can be mixed to your specification as can powder, but a batch of bespoke powder is VERY expensive. I'm in the UK so Toro Red (Pantone 186c) is not available as we use RAL and BS colours. I use small surplus quantities of powder (probably excess stock) off ebay which makes powder coating very affordable, but you have to accept the colours that are available. For Wheelhorse parts, I use British Post Office Red which looks OK in daylight but in reality is a little light/orange  compared to Pantone 186c. 

 

Warning: I found a cross reference to RAL3027 but (assuming my coating company got it right) it turned out rather pink. I have nothing against the LGBT community but this was going a bit too far!

 

 

 

 

[Kevin Bowley 139]

 I used Rustoleum 2x grey primer and Rustoleum IH Red implement paint. I am happy with it.

 

Before restoring, and below is after. It did take a couple of months for the paint to get really hard so I couldn't dig into it with my fingernail. Now it is extremely hard shelled. The picture below is the first time using it and getting all dusty. 

Edited Thursday at 11:21 AM by Kevin Bowley

[jackhammer 547]

Great looking tractor and paints worked out well for you

 

[kpinnc 13,147]

16 hours ago, Kevin Bowley said:

I used Rustoleum 2x grey primer and Rustoleum IH Red implement paint. I am happy with it.

 

I have used that before as well with good results. 

 

As already said, it's not as fast drying as regular rattle can, but it's got higher gloss and seems to be reasonably durable after fully curing. 

 

[Kevin Bowley 139]

That was a "field find" through word of mouth. The seller said it had been setting for three or four years because he broke the spindle when he hit a stump and bought a new Simplicity Coquest. It came with a barely used plow, a solid 48" deck (save a broken spindle), original rear tires and wheels with OEM wheel weights, chains, and a grader blade...no way I could see getting hurt even if the machine was junk. He did drain the gas and ran the carb dry when he parked it. Well, I'll be. I got everything home and, without much hope, dragged it into the garage, hooked up the jump pack, poured a bit of gas into the carb, and it fired right up. Put some in the tank, and it ran like a clock (other than about 100 acorns flying out). All the gauges worked fine, as did the idiot lights. A project was born! I purchased the cool decal kit from RedoYourHorse. I want to add that the OEM Wheel Horse paint for the newer tractors looked like it had a better/smoother mirror-like finish with very high gloss, but the spray head was a horrible haphazard and spatteres pattern, where the Rustoleum sprayed with an easy to control flat vertical pattern just like my LVP and was so close to the Toro I chose that. Very happy once it finished laying out for a couple weeks. Of course the prep was a PITA, requiring puddy in some areas to hide pitting as well as wet sanding the primer with 800, but as we all know, it is the most important part of a nice finish.

Edited Friday at 11:18 AM by Kevin Bowley

[Red Stallion 74]

On 2/20/2025 at 10:09 PM, Kevin Bowley said:

 I used Rustoleum 2x grey primer and Rustoleum IH Red implement paint. I am happy with it.

 

Before restoring, and below is after. It did take a couple of months for the paint to get really hard so I couldn't dig into it with my fingernail. Now it is extremely hard shelled. The picture below is the first time using it and getting all dusty. 

 

 

I'm going through the same process at the moment. Do you put a clear coat over the paint, or just leave it painted only?

[Kevin Bowley 139]

On 2/24/2025 at 5:03 AM, Red Stallion said:

 

 

I'm going through the same process at the moment. Do you put a clear coat over the paint, or just leave it painted only?

No clear, 3 coats of Rustoleum 2X coverage primer, wet sanded with 1200 with a block by hand (use 3M sandpaper; it lasts forever), and three coats of Rustoleum IH red implement paint laid on progressively thicker with each. I don't have a paint booth to bake it, so I let it set under my Modine heater for a week or so but could still push my fingernail into it. It was about a month before I took it out and got it dirty. It took three to get extremely hard. I didn't want to use my VLP as it's a PITA, and I can get a great finish with a good-quality rattle can with proper prep. She shines like a mirror. I also use these handles for good control. Be sure to use a respirator!

Edited 9 hours ago by Kevin Bowley