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Undercoating Deck with Slip Plate - Yea or Nea?

J

JayTheCPA

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Experience with the spray-on stuff is not good when it comes to mower decks. Product is the Slip Plate spray.

Slip Plare Spray.jpg

Expectation was to either minimize or prevent clumping of grass as even when the lawn is dry, the grass has enough moisture in it to clump on an un-treated deck.

The first application was simply sprayed-on to a clean push-mower deck and immediately put in use. Stuff was completely gone after about 45 minutes.

Tried again and this time read, and followed directions. Cleaned the deck, waited a day for it to dry, sprayed the slip plate, and waited 4 hours. Actually, it was a couple days of cure time.

After about 2 hours on the 2 blade deck, grass was clumped-on and a wash showed that the slip plate was pretty much gone.

After about 4 hours on the 3 blade deck, same observation as the 2 blade deck.

I did a search on the Tube and it seems like there are reports of the stuff (as made by various manufacturers and specifically designed for mower decks) not lasting much past one mowing.

Question is whether this the correct application for the job, do the instructions need adjustments, or should I just wash the deck after each use and repaint as necessary without bothering with slip plate?
 
Nothing I've ever found works short of cleaning the deck by hand. I became far less anal about keeping the mower deck clean as years went by. I regularly mow 5 acres of grass the last 15 years and 2 1/2 for the prior 20. If its cut... I'm good.
 
Definitely an idea. Am not sure that TwistedSteel's oven is big enough for the 3 blade deck though ;)

Back story to why I tried Slip Plate was that when the grass gets wet and/or long enough, it takes a lot longer to do the lawn as it will completely pack and clog. Sure, I could invest in a fancy zero-turn that cuts at near warp speed, but I also need a multi-role piece of equipment. Besides, the tractor and equipment are paid for :cool:
 
I hear you, my oven isn't big enough either. I haven't done any of the ceramics just powder coating. Hope to be done with mowing after this year my zero turn has 2000hrs on it . Decks and off road parts are my goal to replace the lawn care for side entertainment.. LOL
 
JayTheCPA said:
Experience with the spray-on stuff is not good when it comes to mower decks. Product is the Slip Plate spray.

View attachment 65974

Expectation was to either minimize or prevent clumping of grass as even when the lawn is dry, the grass has enough moisture in it to clump on an un-treated deck.

The first application was simply sprayed-on to a clean push-mower deck and immediately put in use. Stuff was completely gone after about 45 minutes.

Tried again and this time read, and followed directions. Cleaned the deck, waited a day for it to dry, sprayed the slip plate, and waited 4 hours. Actually, it was a couple days of cure time.

After about 2 hours on the 2 blade deck, grass was clumped-on and a wash showed that the slip plate was pretty much gone.

After about 4 hours on the 3 blade deck, same observation as the 2 blade deck.

I did a search on the Tube and it seems like there are reports of the stuff (as made by various manufacturers and specifically designed for mower decks) not lasting much past one mowing.

Question is whether this the correct application for the job, do the instructions need adjustments, or should I just wash the deck after each use and repaint as necessary without bothering with slip plate?
Click to expand...
Graphite paints are used in farm equipment hoppers and on leaf springs with good results...they do not wear off like you describe.
 
JayTheCPA said:
Definitely an idea. Am not sure that TwistedSteel's oven is big enough for the 3 blade deck though
Click to expand...

My oven is 4x4x6 feet tall.... and I could make a call to see what product would be recommended, off the top of my head the TLHB, it's what the inside of your d/p is coated with, it's slick, hard along with other property's .... I'll ask them and see what they have to say...
 
Have you tried high lift blades? From the reading that I have done on this subject it sounds like most lawnmowers come with low lift blades from the factory. I bought a set of high lift blades for my Kubota and it did help when I cut grass in the mornings to not clump up as bad leaving the chute. They for sure throw the grass a lot further away from the mower.
 
The 2 blade deck has a high lift blade option for mulching. I used them, once. They created so much airborne dust that my nose ran for half a week and co-workers wanted to send me home as they thought I had the flu in the middle of Summer (not kidding or exaggerating). Seeing as I am not a fan of wearing respirators on hot days, the low lift blades were put in service and life was much better. Low lift blades do a great job at cutting and throwing.

The 3 blade deck only has what the manufacturer offers which is low lift. There are no aftermarket blade options for this deck which is sad as even the local dealer would rather sell me a set of Gators.


Toward the idea of ceramic coating, looks like the 2 blade deck will fit in TwistedSteel's ovens, but the 3 blade is questionable (might fit diagonally). Agree that shipping and prep costs will make this a questionable task.

Seeing as replacement decks are only available in the used market (and a bit scarce), am just looking to take care of what I have in addition to getting better performance if possible. Worst case is that I can keep washing them after each use and repaint as part of seasonal prep.

Really is too bad that Slip Plate is not living up to its hype in this scenario.
 
I shipped a pallet to My son in Alaska, he picked it up at Anchorage. The weight was about 400 pounds, IIRC and the cost was under $400.00.
From My house to Anchorage.
If decks will fit on a standard pallet then it probably would cost less than that to ship it to Chris.
 
We mow about 5 acres and have had good luck with slick plate. We run Gator blades.
We also power wash the bottom of the deck about every time we mow.

The slick plate - I don't know which brand, seems to last about 1/3 of a season.

We aren't very fancy about coating the deck. We lift it with the loader, power wash it, dry it and slob the slick plate on. We buy quarts or gallons.

I ordered an epoxy product made for the bottom of air boats, that I haven't got a chance to try yet.

Most damage I have seen on decks was the result of not cleaning and protecting them/rust. The decks are way to expensive to not care for
 
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We have been happy enough with the results to keep using it. We've used several products including anything we happen to have on hand. Any paint, used oil, Amsoil metal Protector. Oily stuff, obviously doesn't work so great. But anything to keep the deck from rusting.

We would take the deck off the Toro more often if the driveshaft had a quick connect like our 1980 John Deere 400 has.

Most of the time we just lay on the ground and powrrwash the worst of it off.
 
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