So I decided to take on a little project. I have a rotary mower that pulls behind my JD 4500 tractor. We use it to mow roughs. It's in ... well rough shape to say the least. I've stripped all the belts, springs, idler pulleys etc.... and have it sitting outside. I thought I'd try sandblasting it and painting it. A few questions. I have a pretty big air compressor to operate it (i think). I saw one of those gravity fed sandblasters (10 lbs. I think) at a local tractor supply store for $100. Do they do the job ok? Any grit better than others? Can you reuse the grit? I think I can peel all the old paint/rust and get it down to bare metal. Is there anything to do with areas that have become pitted to make it a smooth surface? And finally how big of a pain in the ass is it lol? The thing is pretty much a pile of junk now and neglected in the past. I plan on replacing a lot of components on it. Bushings, pulleys, belts, springs, etc.. If this sandblasting and painting go good I can really slick this up and get a lot more years out of it. Better than dumping 15k for a new one IMO. Any thoughts?
We use an 60 lb gravity blaster. It works very good. We've done everything from tractors, pay loaders, mowers, gravity boxes, trailers, steel tanks and a ton more with it. You do need a grood compressor for that amount of sand. A 10 lb blaster should be just as good... you will just have to fill it a lot more which is good as I imagine our compressor is quite large compared to your. We cheat... instead of the recommended staying at 90 psi... we push ours to 120 - 140 psi to get something done since we are working with quite large projects. You might want to stay lower or not. We use a silica sand. We tried other stuff but always go back to silica sand. You want a medium to coarse sand. Saty away from fine sand as it won't do a good job and you will waste alot more sand. Wear a dust mask as this stuff is hard on you if you do it alot. We blast outside. Wear gloves, long sleave shirt or jacket and get a decent sandblasting helmet. We don't reuse the sand. You could but you would have to screen it to reuse. It would be a lot dustier since it will be busted up finer and more of a health hazard from breathing it in. All's it takes is a few small stones mixed in when you sweep it up and you have yourself a nightmare as you are always plugging the nozzle. We do our blasting outside on gravel as the sand is nasty and gets into everything. You'll want to use a good primer and paint if you want it to last for years. There are so many different brands, types of paints and recommendations... I would just as soon stay away from that one. You can go to the dealer that made your mower to get primer/paint or go to the many different paint suppliers. They will have an answer for you. Good luck. Tim
I just look at the TSC website and for 109.99 you can get a Clarke 90 lb blaster. They didn't list any smaller ones. Recomends an air compressor that can put out 7 CFM at 80 psi. I think our compressor is rated for 10 CFM at 90 psi but will double check tomorrow.
I redid my boat trailor with one of those many years ago, it worked very well. The paint finish from the manufacturer was terrible and didn't last very long. Definitely do it outside and wear all the protective clothing like others said, that stuff will get into any little opening on your clothes !!! I just used rustoleam (sp?) primer and a good finish coat and it has held up very well considering that the trailor sits outside all the time, year round.,
Wow that's pretty cool stuff. I've been outside blasting the last couple days. I bought one of those 90lb (i don't know why i said 10 in my original post) for 100 bucks. The thing works fine. The only problem I had was my compressor. I had a 5 hp compressor that I think would put out 10cfm. It's an old one and **** the bed and I wasn't able to ever fix it (still sitting in my shop). So I borrowed a portable one from my dad. It's a 1.5 hp and I'm not sure what cfm it puts out... he thinks around 5 or 6. Anyway I had to use my dads compressor. I'd wait until it built up to 120 psi (shutoff) and start blasting. WHOA it goes crazy good at that pressure. I was a blasting mad man. But.... didnt' last very long. After a few minutes of blasting it would suck it down to 80,70,60 at that point useless. So I'd have to wait for it to build back up. It would be really cool to keep that compressor running (even at 90 or higher). Could do a pretty good job and be more productive. But it is tolerable the way it's operating. Day 2 I hooked the portable into my old tank that doesn' run (a lot more gallons). Then I used the outlet hose off my now "holding tank" to blast. Gave me a lot more volume of air and seemed to go a little better. As far as the blasting goes. It's going very good IMO. Ripping off all the old paint and rust and getting back to bare metal. Only bad part is the pitting in spots, but I'm not going to worry too much about that. Oh and how the hell does sand get EVERYWHERE on your head when you're wearing the stupid helmet? Wow that stuff gets everyplace. I had to Q-tip my nostrils last night lol.
If you are doing it around your shop be carefull of the dust. It will get into oil cans anything that isnt completely sealed up.
