New Mower Decks

[WH 312-8 Fan 9]

So I've been poking around for a few months looking about buying a rear discharge deck. After the Gettysburg/ Arendtsville show, I found a few decks there but didn't have the cash on me. I had hoped to make more money off my parts tractor by that point. I found a couple of them that were the "reinforced" style. They had round bar stock around the lower edge of the deck. The more I get dead ends on mower decks, the more I feel that perhaps, maybe, a new deck wouldn't be a bad investment. I plan on keeping the tractor for the long haul. The mower decks I've found so far have all needed cosmetic work at the very least and still were going for about $500. There were a couple for $300-$400 but needed work. I don't have the tools or experience to do metal work on the shell. If I bought a used deck, I'd probably tear it down, clean and paint it best I could. Whatever I would do, would probably need redone in a few years. I'm thinking that even if I found a mower deck, I'd still end up sinking $$ into a deck and time to refurb it before next spring.

So, my thought process was, what if I invest in a new deck. coat the underside right off the bat. I wouldn't have to burn time repairing metal and I would "know what I have". 

I put in a request to the New Haven Power up in Vermont asking for a shipping quote. Who knows if their website is current. The financing programs they had posted, some were out of date.

My question to the forum is: have any of you gotten this route? Are the reinforced decks still available?  Are the new deck shells junk? I this a trap?
I know going through a parts department will usually land a bigger $ bill and I found some references from 2012 on this forum saying that decks weren't available complete anymore. I was hoping to go through a wholegoods/sales department and get a whole deck shipped to me on a pallet LTL truck freight. I'm looking at twice the cost up front but with a financing option. If they come complete, I could be up and running.

Thoughts? I apologize for any incoherence, there's a lot going around my head.

[boovuc 1,090]

I just picked up a rear discharge deck that was on a tractor I bought for 250 bucks and it is in real good shape. As you stated, it needs painted and the deck spindles gone over. (And some real good blade sharpening too).
There should be no need for you to drop that kind of money on a used deck and never, IMHO, on a new old stock deck.
The Wheelhorse decks were some of the heaviest built mowing decks on the market. Way over-engineered! This is why you see so many decks still being used on 20, 30 and even 40 year old tractors.
Welding shops charge very little for hole repairs on decks that were not cared for. (Rode hard and put away wet). Spindles and the spindle bearings are easy to find and so are the roller and deck wheels.
Even if you spend 250 buck for a used deck that better darn well be hole-less and quiet for that price, pressure spray it, dry it off very well and coat the bottom of it with a good sealer. If you clean it out just decent between mowings and grease the spindles and wheel regularly then super clean it and store it inside over our winters like I'm sure your tractor is, it should last your lifetime.
If you don't care for it, it will still last many years but repairs will be required in all the usual suspect places in time.

My opinion and never given unsolicited! 

[WH 312-8 Fan 9]

BooVuc,

I appreciate your feedback. Patience is a virtue I suppose.

[Chevydave 25]

Have you considered buying a new deck shell? You can coat it, swap the guts from your existing, and have a virtually new deck for the price of a quality used one. I did so several years ago. I had my old shell repaired then coated it and I keep it as a spare. 

[WH 312-8 Fan 9]

Have you considered buying a new deck shell? You can coat it, swap the guts from your existing, and have a virtually new deck for the price of a quality used one. I did so several years ago. I had my old shell repaired then coated it and I keep it as a spare. 

That is a good point. If I am going to tear it down anyway. I'll give my toro dealer a call over lunch. See what they say. It is still somewhat slim pickings on Craigslist and Ebay right now.

I called my local guy. 

Shell part # is 92-8018. NLA

Entire deck part # is 05-42RY02. NLA. 

Edited July 29, 2015 by WH 312-8 Fan
Update

[WH 312-8 Fan 9]

Ok, so here's the update.

I'm not sure if any of you guys have ever called New Haven Power Equipment. If you google the 78350 42" rear discharge mower deck, you'll likely come across their page.
They do in fact have mower decks in stock. they were 2014 production. He said that Toro does mower deck runs every couple of years. 42" side, 42" rear, 48" side for the 300-500 series classic.

$1,299 gets you a brand new mower deck, mule drive belt and mule drive. 2 year warranty comes with it as well. So it is legit. Interesting these guys will load up on a tractor trailer load of new mower decks every time Toro does a run and they'll dish 'em out over the interwebs using LTL truck freight.

So, that is what I found out.

 

[WH 312-8 Fan 9]

alright, so I had a lucky break. I saw a guy on Craigslist, Glenn Cockerham. He was out at the Wheel Horse show in PA this summer. I went out to his plact outside Philly and picked up a pretty darn decent 42" rear discharge for a very fair price. Boom done. I'm glad I came to my senses, that new deck would have been awesome with the warranty and all that... but for 3x the price of the tractor?? no, no sir.

What are tricks you guys use to get rust off the bottom of the mower deck shell? Best I have is a lot of wire wheeling.

I'll load pictures when I get home.

[Jrblanke 857]

I just finished wire wheeling, cleaning, and POR15ing my 42" SD. I am in the process of putting it back together now. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow. 

[cleat 5,910]

Hard to beat sand blasting to get rust out of all the rough areas as a good prep but wire wheeling will do a good job as well.

[papaglide 542]

A year ago I bought a brand new 48" deck ordered from Toro thru my local dealer. Around $ 1400.00 if I remember correctly. I bought a 314 from the same dealer last summer and it had a 1 year old 42"rd deck on it. The receipt came with the tractor. I think that deck was around $1200. I don't have an issue with each of these 2 decks. They will last longer than my tractors will. To me  the decks are worth it, I don't have to mess with rust, spindles, time and labor or headaches. I used a credit card to buy the 48" inch and had it paid off in 4 months.

[Jrblanke 857]

Here are the pictures from coating the bottom of the deck.

Before grass removal of the bottom:


Ready for application


Here is after I finished coating. It isn't pretty, but it will work. 

[Theroundhousernr 589]

Interested to see how the POR15 holds up for you. I know its good stuff but I have heard the stuff just gets "sand blasted" away in short order from dust/ dirt and what not.  I wanted to try it this year but just have not got around to it. Honestly, I never see any rust on my decks. They just looked like a well seasoned frying pan underneath. Nice dark black color. My only issue has been spindle rot. That grass can be tough on aluminum! Please report back after a few mowings!  Thanks

[WH 312-8 Fan 9]

has anyone else tried any other product for the belly of a mower deck? I saw a vendor at the show in Arendtsville had a coating on the bottom of the decks they were selling. It was a white-ish coating that I would liken to a "teflon" coating. I should've asked what they coated it with. It was the vendor in one of the cattle barns and had mower deks for sale that were strapped to hand carts ready to roll out.

Jrblanke, that POR15 looks great on there. I have never used it so I'm also wondering how it will hold up. Have you done that treatment to other decks before?

[Jrblanke 857]

That was the first deck I have treated. My yard is pretty small (I can mow the whole thing with a 32" deck in about 30 minutes) so it might take a bit for enough material to pass through before it starts to wear (if it starts to wear). 

[RedRanger 1,468]

I had my JD deck powder coated earlier this year.  We added Teflon to the powder coat.  Slick as baby poo.  Mowed for 2 months now and it still looks new.

[slammer302 2,155]

i've used the ez-slide graphite coating i did not really like it after mowing my small yard one time it had already worn away in places it did make cleaning easier but had to recoat very often i think it does work but maybe not the best for decks. i've heard the por 15 works really well so you should have good results with it 

[WH 312-8 Fan 9]

i have a call into a local sandblaster/powder coating place. I'll get a price on getting powder coat with teflon inserted in it. Haven't priced out a POR15 kit yet. Lord knows my truck could use some rust prevention attention...

[skeptichorse 25]

I am redoing the deck on my c-141 and was planning on Rhino Linning it.  I figure if it can handle the abuse of a truck  bed being exposed 24/7 *365 and everything you can throw in it, firewood etc...then it should hold up to mowing.  Plus it is paintable.  Granted it wouldn't release the grass clippings like teflon would but it would be more durable and would be a rust preventative. 

Has anyone else experimented with it?

[mowerman1193 32]

I am redoing the deck on my c-141 and was planning on Rhino Linning it.  I figure if it can handle the abuse of a truck  bed being exposed 24/7 *365 and everything you can throw in it, firewood etc...then it should hold up to mowing.  Plus it is paintable.  Granted it wouldn't release the grass clippings like teflon would but it would be more durable and would be a rust preventative. 

Has anyone else experimented with it?

I have read on other forums where people have used the Rhino line and wish they had not done it.. Though they said it held up good.. but it is pretty rough and made grass stick to it.. being rough made it harder to scrap grass off it too..

Personally I think a good prep job and a quality paint every fall would be better than nothing but I like the sounds of powder coating.. that stuff is pretty tough.. and I didn't know they could ad the teflon to it.. Might be the way I do my next mower..
 

[608KEB 795]

I tried Easy Slide too. It did not hold up very well. I used a rust coverter for primer underneath the easyslide. That is holding up well. I was thinking about trying por 15.