Shopsmith Forums

Well, we were blessed with excess of 10" of rain last week. Yesterday, the sun shone and we had a slight breeze. So, this morning dawned bright and breezy and no rain. A great day to mow. Ah, the grass was still wet and began to cling to the mower deck. After cleaning a couple of times, I had the brilliant idea of cooking spray on the underside of the mower deck. Tried it and it clogged just as fast with it as before spraying.

Next attempt is to completely clean and then wax to see if it will turn loose easier. Anyone have any ideas? I live on a hillside and you would think that the water would drain quickly. Guess not.

Steve, the old swampgator

You can try silicone spray. We use it on snow shovels up here to keep the wet snow from sticking.

Mike

I no longer have grass. That works. No clogging at all.

The other trick might be to "wait for the wet grass to dry".

Here on the farm I have dealt with hundreds of situations where release or easy sliding is needed. The only thing that works well for me is graphite paint. Clean the surface well and spray, brush or roll it on. Best if it drys overnight. I've used it on the underside of mower decks a lot. I also use it on shovels, ditching spades, hoes and other garden tools. I have also used it on combine headers where crop material must slide. One big area we used it on was inside of the hopper bed wagons. For many years we harvested ear corn which unloaded many times easier if the inside of the hopper was coated with graphite paint. I use it in the shop, especially the farm shop, to make tool cabinet drawers slide easier. Many of my older cabinets have drawers that slide metal on metal rails instead bearing rails.
There are several brands available. One I use is called "Slip Plate". You can get it at any farm store. I suppose most big box stores have it.

Foot note: In those hopper beds after a few loads were unloaded it was then impossible to stand in them due to the slickness so don't use it any place where you might need to step. Don't paint a surface on a spade where your foot steps.

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Thanks for the comments. Thank you, Frances, on the comment about the graphite paint. My new riding mower has the hose connection and I have yet to try it. I may get out the ramps and wash underneath and use the paint. If it won't hold moisture, that would be a real answer. However, the riding mower has a good mix of sand and grass. The battery powered push mower does not have the speed to get the grass out, so it accumulates under the deck. When the cut grass builds up, it slows down the RPM's dramatically and the mower becomes rather inefficient. I have this thick and beautiful St. Augustine grass. It needs mowing at least once per week.

Dusty, I realize you live in or near the desert. How did you get rid of your grass and what replaces it?

Back to the heat to mow the back.

Steve, the old swampgator

swampgator wrote: . . .

How did you get rid of your grass and what replaces it?

. . .

Gravel! However it needs frequent 'raking'.

Personally I find 'dirt' sufficiently pleasing.

Remember that lawn is a 4 letter word that nice people don't use.

swampgator wrote:Thanks for the comments. Thank you, Frances, on the comment about the graphite paint. My new riding mower has the hose connection and I have yet to try it. I may get out the ramps and wash underneath and use the paint. If it won't hold moisture, that would be a real answer. However, the riding mower has a good mix of sand and grass. The battery powered push mower does not have the speed to get the grass out, so it accumulates under the deck. When the cut grass builds up, it slows down the RPM's dramatically and the mower becomes rather inefficient. I have this thick and beautiful St. Augustine grass. It needs mowing at least once per week.

Dusty, I realize you live in or near the desert. How did you get rid of your grass and what replaces it?

Back to the heat to mow the back.

Steve, the old swampgator

Careful! I personally think those water hose connections were put on lawn mowers to sell more mowers.
When I raced motorcycles we had one rule never wash a hot bike. The rule was wash it cold and ride it until it got hot and dry.

Think about it you mow the lawn the blade spindle bearings get nice and hot. You finish and want to clean up so you connect the hose to the connector and flood those bearings with nice cold water. What happens everything contracts drawing water into the bearing.

Look at boat trailer tires they have what is called " bearing buddies" on each wheel hub to keep constants grease pressure on the bearing as they cool from being put in the water to launch the boat. We always gave each bearing buddy a pump or two grease before we launched the boat. Never sat beside the road with a broken axle or missing wheel bearing.

An aside: lawn is one of those dirty four letter words. A couple more: plan and work. My son is 36 and he can't plan and works until he gets frustrated and quits. He never completes anything. Another four letter dirty word for me is Heat (in the summer).

Steve, the old swampgator