LocostUSA.com

I've read many people liking the ease of painting and the durability of Tractor paint and I've used John Deere brand on the interior of a car before and it was extremely easy to use and durable.

I've been down for several weeks now with a torn or tearing achilles tendon so I can't get up or do much until the doctor cn convince the insurance company that I need surgery. So since the rains have finally stopped I decided to redo a 16' trailer I had with rotting floorboards. I can do that in short segments without it being much work, right?

Of course once I cut the old wood out and saw all the rust I thought I'd blast & sand the steel and while I'm there and it's easy to get to stuff I might as well change out the lights for LEDs. And since I'm priming and painting the under steel I might as well repaint the whole trailer and make it look new. Sound familiar?

I went to Tractor Supply to pick up Tractor paint and found they've changed brands.



I went ahead & got it thinking that at least I'd find out if this brand was any good.

After I'd used this to get rid of most of the rust and to give it a phosphated finish



I reached for my electric HVLP paint sprayer and of course found that the last time my wife used it she only half cleaned it and it was going to take a complete dismantling and a couple of hours of time to get it working.

Hmmm, it's supposed to rain here off & on for the next 4 days so I can't really leave the steel unprotected so I pulled out a brush and thought I'd just the unprotected stuff and since it would mostly be underneath the new floor it wouldn't really matter if it was less than pretty.

Also it was 90 degrees and of course the trailer was not in the shade so I knew this would dry too quickly and probably wouldn't lay down.

Boy was I surprised! It leveled off pretty dern well for the conditions and is drying quit pretty so if any of you are looking for a paint for the chassis or interior this is inexpensive ($26 a gallon), should be very durable since tractor paint is almost indestructible, and will give you a good looking finish.

I saved the rest of the painting till the rain is gone again and I have the sprayer working but I did have to paint one of the uprights just to see how it would look.

As for me, I'm making the best of a bad situation.



The fresh strawberry shortcake is being prepared as I sit here.

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

I live in horse country now. Uh, good thing you're not a horse. Would be grim.

Tell me more about the prep please, my 1" square tubes have never been painted, and I envision spending a week in the summer sun sanding the thing down to get the rust off, or using PORS, etc?

And do they have tractor paint in, say, Ford tractor grey?

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Geek49203 aka
Tim Wohlford
Louisville, KY
Hayes front, S10 +2 rear, Lalo body.

carguy123,

Sorry for your injury......to a speedy recovery.

Just be careful using the tractor paint for the classic BRG with yellow stripes. Your Locost could end up looking like a John Deere!

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Mike - Read my story at http://twinlakesseven.blogspot.com/

ngpmike, but it'd be real purty and fit right here on the west side of Fort Worth where there are more tractors, skid loaders and pick up trucks than cars.

AND I'd be highly visible so maybe I wouldn't be run over.

I have used the John Deere green on the interior of a car and I just found an almost empty can of the Valspar version of tractor paint (I was told it was the same stuff as the John Deere just under the manufacturer's name) that I used on a chassis in a silver color.

In both cases it was super easy to shoot, I didn't even use an air compressor sprayer, only the HVLP electric sprayer that was meant more for house paint and it looked very nice plus was extremely durable.

I was able to get out for a little bit today so I bought some 3/8" X 2 1/2" eye bolts which I am going to mount on the outside of the top rail of the trailer for more tie down points.

I only get about 2 hours a day of gently walking and I used that up in church this morning and Lowes this afternoon getting the eye bolts so I couldn't do any work.

That means tomorrow I should be able to drill & tap the holes for the eye bolts and possibly weld on the extra stake holders so that I can put up some short plywood sides for hauling dirt.

And then I will have used up my allotment of feet time.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.