Tool Tips, Blow Guns and Clamps

Tom Wesenberg

Well-known member
A couple months ago I bought a Honda 3813 riding mower that looks almost NOS. In an effort to keep it nice and to make the deck last much longer I bought a 2 foot blow gun to blow out any dust and grass from the tractor part and to blow the wet grass out from under the deck as soon as I finish mowing. It seems the first thing to go is the deck rusts out. I bought a 2 foot blow gun from Harbor Freight for $4. It's the one with the spring clamp in the picture. This is a piece of junk, and I can blow off more grass with my mouth and a drinking straw. I then went to Fleet Farm and bought a good 2 foot gun for $4 that really does the job. This is also handy to blow the dirt out of the frame corners in the Model A, and other places that need to be cleaned. Fleet Farm also has a similar gun with the short nozzle that I use for most of my Model A work.

The spring clamp pictured is from H/F and costs 99 cents. This is excellent and I have a couple dozen to keep tarps on my Model A engines that have to set outside and to keep my mowers and bikes covered. It's also handy to clamp the large tarp on my Phaeton if I'm away from home and need to cover it.
 

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Tom,
Trick #99, After I get under the deck real clean & smooth, I spray it with Armor-All, Pam, Pledge Dusting Spray, WD-40, or anything schlickery & the next time, it cleans REAL EASY, even with wet grass.
Bill W.
 
Tom, Bill, I use the same stuff on the snowblowers, snowblades, lawnmowers etc. works great. I also use the leafblower to clean debris from lawnmowers. good for cleaning the shop out too.
 
This works also: (available at NAPA :D )
 

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Instead of spending money, just mow the grass when it is dry, or just buy a putty and scrape the bottom of the mower and don't be lazy. Coming from A landscaper
 
Instead of spending money, just mow the grass when it is dry, or just buy a putty and scrape the bottom of the mower and don't be lazy. Coming from A landscaper

If I mow when it's dry then I'm breathing a lot of dust and so is the mower. I try to wait until the dew is just off the grass. Not too dry and not too wet. We had such a long cold wet spring and early summer that I had to cut wet grass. I've been wondering about sanblasting the deck priming it with PPG DP-90, then a good coat of PPG epoxy paint, then coating the bottom with Rhino-Coat, like pickup beds use.:confused: I wonder if that could make the deck outlive the tractor?
 
Tom, A friend of mine at one time told me Honda was coating the bottom of their decks with Teflon. Did they ever do this or did they do it and quit cuz they weren't selling any mowers after that.
 
Tom, A friend of mine at one time told me Honda was coating the bottom of their decks with Teflon. Did they ever do this or did they do it and quit cuz they weren't selling any mowers after that.

That sounds like a good idea for the underside of the decks, but unfortunately I'm just starting to learn about the Honda mowers. I learned they were only made for 2 or 3 years and mine is 1985. I sure like mine, just as I like my honda generators. I bought my first Honda mower about a month ago, and last week I bought two more real cheap as parts mowers. One was on ebay and I got it for only $207 because the seller said the engine quit as soon as the blades were engaged. :confused: Yes, they do that when you aren't sitting in the seat.:D It's a great mower.:)
 
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