Stainless ride-on mower cutting deck - good idea?

[MCKDAVID]

Why don't they make them of aluminium, then it'd be a job for life suppose they'd not sell enough lawnmowers then.
I have a brand new mountfield sitting in the garage, haven't had it on the lawn yet and just know as soon as its used the decay will start, have to make sure I clean it properly and use some sort of rust inhibitor on it over the winter. I have had only 2 petrol lawnmowers over the last 24 years, normal self propelled jobs, 1st was well patched and welded then the engine seized. Bought a new one which must be 10+ years old now, also patched and repaired but still going strong

in a nutshell, not in their interest to make them long lasting. There's money in the spares market. I'd think it would be fair to say that the majority of lawn tractors are scrapped due to the deck being shot, more so than the rest being worn out.

 

[minimutly]

Why don't they make them of aluminium, then it'd be a job for life suppose they'd not sell enough lawnmowers then.
I have a brand new mountfield sitting in the garage, haven't had it on the lawn yet and just know as soon as its used the decay will start, have to make sure I clean it properly and use some sort of rust inhibitor on it over the winter. I have had only 2 petrol lawnmowers over the last 24 years, normal self propelled jobs, 1st was well patched and welded then the engine seized. Bought a new one which must be 10+ years old now, also patched and repaired but still going strong

Have you never seen a rotten ally deck?

 

[slim_boy_fat]

cleaning after each use

Exactly this ^^, 5 minutes with the pressure washer before parking up/puting away (allowing time to drain off) and Robert's your Father's brother.

Known as ' preventative maintenance, innit....

 

[Lewis_RX8]

Known as ' preventative maintenance, innit....

speaking te language of the yoof

 

[Benpointer]

Built it from corrosion resistant steel if it’s good enough for truck bodies it should be good for your mower deck. A nice coat of paint, cleaning after each use and it’s done.
graham

Sorry to be dumb... What is 'corrosion resistant steel' and where would I get it?

 

[MCKDAVID]

think he means corten, used a lot in modern cars, shipping containers etc..

 

[mike os]

I’d be tempted to try corten

 

[Cobbler]

Why don't they make them of aluminium, then it'd be a job for life suppose they'd not sell enough lawnmowers then.

I’ve got a Mountfield mower that I bought second hand nearly 30 years ago, it has an aluminium deck on it. I never clean it, bung it away at the end of summer & get it out next year. I thought about getting a new one, spoke to the guy in the garden tools place, his reaction “don’t get rid of that one, you won’t get anything as good now”

 

[Fastdruid]

Why don't they make them of aluminium, then it'd be a job for life suppose they'd not sell enough lawnmowers then.
I have a brand new mountfield sitting in the garage, haven't had it on the lawn yet and just know as soon as its used the decay will start, have to make sure I clean it properly and use some sort of rust inhibitor on it over the winter. I have had only 2 petrol lawnmowers over the last 24 years, normal self propelled jobs, 1st was well patched and welded then the engine seized. Bought a new one which must be 10+ years old now, also patched and repaired but still going strong

My old Honda had an aluminum deck. Still rotted. Except you can't weld it.

Still, was ~30 years old with the original deck before it died and *everything* was worn out by then so I guess it wasn't that bad.

 

[Fastdruid]

I’ve got a Mountfield mower that I bought second hand nearly 30 years ago, it has an aluminium deck on it. I never clean it, bung it away at the end of summer & get it out next year. I thought about getting a new one, spoke to the guy in the garden tools place, his reaction “don’t get rid of that one, you won’t get anything as good now”

My modern Mountfield (that replaced the aforementioned Honda) is ****. Cheaply made and badly designed. Trading on the "British Brand" of Mountfield while being made in Italy and designed who knows where.

I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

 

[MCKDAVID]

My modern Mountfield (that replaced the aforementioned Honda) is ****. Cheaply made and badly designed. Trading on the "British Brand" of Mountfield while being made in Italy and designed who knows where.

I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

at the lower end of the market, i.e the types you'll find in the garden centre they're pretty much all the same. If you lined them up side by side and checked, you'll see they share a lot of common parts from external manufacturers, peerless transmissions, briggs motors, standard chassis frame design, the only significant difference is the body work. That's why I tell folks, wouldn't spend too much on them. There no better than each other, lowest common denominator is price...

Even the "better" makes like Husqvarna / STiga / Jonsered etc. aren't much better, just a lot more money for similar, even Husqvarna use briggs engines etc.. The older models were a lot better built, but in the continual race to the bottom, corners have been cut continually. If you get 10 years out of one, you've done pretty well I'd say...
The only real exception is the honda models, but you can get two of the cheaper ones for the same money as the honda version, but would they last twice as long? maybe, but I doubt it.... pays yer money makes yer choice.

 

[nickk]

If anyone needs Corten ,I have a load of 3mm x 800ish x 80 wide strips for sale.
Grass is so corrosive,I’ve replaced cattle shed stanchions that were 7mm thick after 23 years ,just replaced the bottom 3’.

 

[sako243]

Blast it, repair it, galv it, paint it.

 

[500e]

Get someone else to cut the grass

 

[Ctreanor13]

Aside from the fun element and satisfaction gained from doing it!

I got the mower for nothing so cost me very little.

View attachment 316304

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What's that technique for 'rolling' the steel in the second image

 

[Onoff]

What's that technique for 'rolling' the steel in the second image

First I folded the steel as a straight channel.

I then marked each flange out every 10mm with a Sharpie.

Then slit each mark with a 0.8/1mm disc (can't remember).

I bent one "tab" up and one down.

Folded it to the shape of the mower, just kept tweaking until it was right.

I then cut the overlaps of and bent the tags back in line.

Fire up the mig!

Dress with a flap disc

 

[Bobupndown]

First I folded the steel as a straight channel.

I then marked each flange out every 10mm with a Sharpie.

Then slit each mark with a 0.8/1mm disc (can't remember).

I bent one "tab" up and one down.

Folded it to the shape of the mower, just kept tweaking until it was right.

I then cut the overlaps of and bent the tags back in line.

Fire up the mig!

Dress with a flap disc

View attachment 316610

Which 'overlaps' are you cutting off, is it the small flaps that have been bent over, where they touch each other?
Then mig'ing each cut and grinding back?
Looks good, have you anymore pictures?

 

[badabec]

I enjoyed fixing my brothers Countax deck a few months ago, although I reaped the reward of a neighbour (working from home in her garden! ) complaining to the council about the noise of my angle-grinder.

I trust she is on the 'never, ever to be helped' list for the future, including if she was on fire.

 

[Onoff]

Which 'overlaps' are you cutting off, is it the small flaps that have been bent over, where they touch each other?
Then mig'ing each cut and grinding back?
Looks good, have you anymore pictures?

Think I've got a bit of the formed channel left over, I'll take a pic tomorrow.

 

[zeppelin builder]

I trust she is on the 'never, ever to be helped' list for the future, including if she was on fire.

should ha shouted Hey Karen ! wait till you see my 9 inch grinder