A foray into the murky world of restoration

[darren 49]

I've been starting to accumulate a small pile of 'things that need restoring a bit' so I've decided I'd better get started or it'll never happen. It'll also help to figure out some methods before tackling the tractors!

I've started on a 48" SD deck, 42" RD deck, weights and grader blade.

First off, I've stripped the old paint and rust with some polycarbide discs/wheels. That bit's gone fine; the silicon carbide makes short work of cleaning up the surface with less danger than wire-wheeling.

For the spindle housings I've used the same process with a Dremel to get into all the nooks and crannies.

I've then cleaned the surfaces with acetone and primed everything apart from the spindle housings with two coats of Bonda zinc primer.

The spindle housings and deck underside have been treated to POR15, everything else is getting a coat of IH red enamel.

More pics to come as I get chance to make more progress

The grader bracket, a couple of front weights and some odds and ends primered:

Lots of deck primered bits and bobs

primed and POR15'd decks awaiting painting. To the left is the primered grader blade

The grader blade pivot was seized when I got it (the greeze zerk was never fitted and subsequently, the shaft had never had any lubrication. It was a labour of love to free it and in the process I stupidly tried hitting the top of the shaft with a lump hammer.. Big mistake; I'd overlooked that the shaft has an E-ring groove. Suprise suprise, hitting the top with the hammer close it up on one side. Luckily I managed to open the groove back up with the Dremel and a cut-off wheel which made short work of re-instating it.

The next step is to finish the e-tank for all the fiddly bits and bobs. It's all made, just needs wiring and filling. I'm going to use this to clean up the fiddly pieces.

Once the stainless hardware arrives it's the fun of re-assembly (if I can remember how everything went together )

[Anglo Traction 761]

:handgestures-thumbup: An excellent start Darren. Research and preparation using quality materials is the way to go. Looking forward to the progress updates.

[darren 49]

Thanks Richard Thanks too for the words of advice when I've messaged you. Your own work has been the motivation I've needed to get started and if my results are even half as good as yours, I'll be very pleased!

[wheeledhorseman 574]

Yes indeed, good stuff Daren. Keep posting the pics.

I seem to remember a grader with seized pin being on fleabay a little while back - is that the one?

I know how many hours a deck can take as I did the undesides of two of mine over the winter, I suspect I'll be looking at the job again next winter as stones are an invetable hazard on the grass they have to cut.

Richard is indeed an inspiration and font of knowledge, whenever I see his work I say to myself 'must try to do better'.

Andy

[darren 49]

Hi Andy. Thanks for the words of encouragement

Yep, the grader was from 'that site' one of the decks was from the same seller in fact. It didn't sell and so he asked if I wanted it. It seemed churlish to refuse! Seizing apart, the grader was in good condition. The paint on the blade hadn't even been worn off but I thought I'd repaint it all seeing as how I had it in pieces anyway..

With the size of your herd as well, you must have your work cut out! Putting in the care always seems worth it though. They *do* keep on going don't they? :USA:

[darren 49]

Here are some pictures of the grader blade, now that it's finished. It's far from perfect but overall I'm pretty pleased and at least it should be protected for a while longer;

I'm still waiting on some coach bolts to finish the decks but it's taking me time to strip and paint everything anyway

I've got a deck cleaning jet which I'm going to try fitting to one of the decks, to see if it helps with the maintenance.

More pictures to come..

[bowtiebutler956 650]

That blade turned out fantastic! Very nice work!

Matt :flags-texas:

[Jake Kuhn 1,556]

That blade is great looking. Nice work you are doing! Jake

[meadowfield 2,616]

looking great !

[Lars 526]

Looks nice Darren :)

[JamesBe1 82]

Very impressive Darren! I like the POR-15 on the bottom of the decks. Post more pics!