Painting vs Powder Coat

[Gregor 4,846]

I have never had a tractor painted professionally. My nephew did paint one for me, but he does it as a hobby, and does a great job, but he is currently laid up. I talked to a guy on the phone yesterday who told me he had the tin work of a tractor media blasted, and powder coated, for $250 at a shop. This seems pretty cheap to me. Can someone give me an idea of what it cost to have the tin work painted, or powder coated by a pro? This is after media blasting, with no body work to be done. Thanks, Greg.

[ebinmaine 67,498]

@Achto may be able to comment on that. I think the cost of the materials alone is well in excess of $100. 

 

I've tried to get a rough idea of cost in my area in the past and I don't think I could walk in the door for less than $400 to $500 at a paint shop.

 

If I could get the powder coating done for $250 I'd seriously consider it.

 

[Gregor 4,846]

5 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

If I could get the powder coating done for $250 I'd seriously consider it.

I wouldn't even take the time to consider it. If I thought I could get a tractor painted, or powder coated for $250, it would be on the way to the shop. I would hate to think I have driven hours, in several directions, to locate enough cans of paint, just to save $150.

[ebinmaine 67,498]

Just now, Gregor said:

 I have driven hours, in several directions, to locate enough cans of paint, just to save $150.

 

For that very reason I've stopped buying paint at brick and mortar stores except for two places that I literally drive right past to and from work. 

One is a small local business so I try to do business there as often as practically possible.

 

[Achto 27,575]

$250 to have your tractor powder coated is a great deal. I do my own painting and I am usually over $250 in materials alone.

 

 

 

[953 nut 55,229]

2 hours ago, Gregor said:

I talked to a guy on the phone yesterday who told me he had the tin work of a tractor media blasted, and powder coated, for $250 at a shop.

Hope you can get the same deal. I just had the base and frames for four counter height bar stools blasted and powder coated and it cost $ 380. There was no shopping around because he is the only powder coater in town and the next closest place is a three hour round trip.

[Mike'sHorseBarn 2,998]

I've had lots of things powder coated, but my wife works in the office at a commercial powder coating facility so I get my stuff done for free. Truthfully if I'm going for a restoration, I prefer the look of paint with hardener rather than powder coat. It has more shine. That being said even if you just powder coat the wheels that saves a lot of time and messing around. I powder coat all my wheels now. I've had a snowmobile trailer powder coated and lots of other things. At $250 I'm not sure how your coater is even making money! I know my wife says the price of powder has gone up like crazy in the last 6 months if they can even get powder at all and the powder is even made in the USA!

[Skipper 1,788]

Another thing to consider is that a correctly done powder coat is much stronger than your typical paintjob, and done right with wet sanding and clear coat, it can look close to as good as automotive. Also consider, that super chrome powder coat on the wheels look rather good too.

 

But, if you have pitting and dents etc, powder coat can be a PITA.

[shallowwatersailor 3,213]

I shy away from powder-coat paint. If you get a chip in the paint, moisture will find its way in. Then it will start lifting the good stuff which will come off in pieces. It will look like a poor prep job.

[Damien Walker 246]

All good advice on here so far but I thought I would add my experience:

 

1) If you are unable to store your machine under cover, avoid powder coat. The reason for this is that the moment you get a chip, water will get in and will rot your machine from under the paint. Conventional wet paint is more durable for stored outside stuff.

2) Powder coat is a tougher finish even than 2 pack epoxy by quite a margin so if you can keep the machine dry, powder coat is superior.

3) I'm in the UK and it cost me £120 (I think!) to have the rear wheels, bonnet and fender coat for my recent 518H rebuild. (So that's cheaper than the prices you have been quoted but I imagine things vary quite considerably. My price including burning off the old finish and media blasting for the clean up)

4) Powder coating equipment is not expensive, so I do all the small parts myself. You need the gun and power supply (or use a tribo system, though I'm not sure how good they are, having never used one) and a domestic oven. I think ovens in the States are larger so you'll be able to do bigger things than I can! I did the 518's front wheels quite successfully?

5) Rust pitting truly is a pita....the reason being that you need to find a filler that is resistant to the oven heat ( and preferably is conductive). I haven't bothered so where I had pitting, I still have pitting...but then my restorations are of working machines rather than concours exhibits.

 

I recommend powder coat..it is excellent. Small brackets etc take around an hour to blast clean, coat and cool down, which is a lot faster than wet undercoat and a couple of top coats.

 

Availability of the correct colour might be a problem. Powder is made in bulk so if you need a special colour match it will be very expensive and you will own a lot of powder. I use UK Post Office red which is little on the orange side but it is acceptable.....and my local coater does a lot of work for DAF trucks who are a supplier to our GPO and so they always have large quantities in stock.

 

Colour match is as difficult as with wet paint. Being an ex member of the EU, we use the German RAL colour system and I read somewhere the nearest equivalent to TORO red was RAL3027. Don't be fooled, RAL3027 is nothing like the correct colour! I'm not homophobic but my tractor turned a delightful gay pink which was not the effect I was looking for!

[EB-80/8inPA 1,641]

Not the best basis for comparison, but I had a set of 16” steel wheels blasted and powder coated for $55/wheel plus tax. February 2020.  So $250 today seems really cheap.
I went with a semi flat black and they look great.  Dedicated snow tires - no chips after one winter only.

If you’re looking for opinions though, I think shiny clear coated paint looks much better on a tractor.  Disclaimer: I have no such tractors!🤪

[Lee1977 6,659]

There may be good powder coating I have never see any, all I have ever seen was already coming off in sheets.  It seem to adhere well in the large areas

but not on sharp edges or anything that can twist, that is where it usually start coming off. I though powder coating sounded great way back when I first read about it.

The few thing I have had with it on has changed my mind. 

[oilwell1415 563]

I had the wheels on my 552 done in the chrome powder, which is a 2 step process, for $250.  I dropped a truck load of stuff off last week and it's going to be $400.  It included a core support for my truck, a custom dumbbell rack I made for one of my wife's friends, my wife's barbell rack, and some small weight racks.  That's a lot more stuff than the tins of a tractor, so I think $250 for tractor tins is pretty reasonable.

[Damien Walker 246]

On 9/4/2021 at 5:58 AM, Lee1977 said:

There may be good powder coating I have never see any, all I have ever seen was already coming off in sheets.  It seem to adhere well in the large areas

but not on sharp edges or anything that can twist, that is where it usually start coming off. I though powder coating sounded great way back when I first read about it.

The few thing I have had with it on has changed my mind. 

 

I hear you Lee! When powder coat goes wrong, it is truly dreadful stuff and you are far better off with (preferably) two pack paint if water is involved. When it sticks, it clings on like grim death and you can't shift it...the professional refinishers usually burn it off. 

 

Having said that, in my opinion, problems with powder coat appear to primarily be caused by poor prep. I have just rebuilt a mower deck where the powder coat was coming off in sheets, clearly leaving the metal substrate as it had left the metal mill...ie the black mill scale was very much in evidence with zero evidence of any degrease and blast processes. Powder is so tough that if it isn't attached properly with good surface prep, it stays in loose formation but detached from the metal....holding moisture behind it, rusting your beautiful machine without you realising.

 

I have a coated gate latch acting as a test piece at the moment...it's in the open 24/7. I blasted that prior to coating and whilst there is uv damage occurring (surface has turned matt), there is no hint of delamination yet after probably 12 months.

 

In conclusion then, if you blast a good key into the metal (I use glass beads) to give the powder a good key, you shouldn't have any trouble. I think the problem is that you can produce a hard glossy showroom finish very easily without bothering with proper prep, and it seems plenty of manufacturers take advantage of this by keeping their costs down. I powder coat nearly everything these days and will report back if I find out anything further that is of use..The mower deck mentioned above has been rebuilt with new steel but was professional shot blasted and then powder coated (£60) and I may possibly have a tractor project coming up that will be used on a local salt marsh ..... that'll test it!