Prepping the IH #9 Mower For Paint

Here are some pictures of what it looked like as I disassembled the mower and prepped it for paint.

To prep, I did a total breakdown of the machine.  Then I took each part individually and used a wire wheel brush on my drill, or used a sanding pad on my grinder and removed all the rust that had accumulated over the years.  This took a lot of time and effort.  After sanding/grinding, I then wiped each part down with Mineral Spirits in order to get them ready for paint.  This worked great, and made the paint stick great.

One idea you might try before total breakdown, is to take the entire machine to a sandblaster while it is all together.  That may do most of the work for you.

The pictures below are what the prep process was like:

It takes a lot of effort to sand down the frame of the mower.  A grinder with a sand-paper wheel was much quicker and easier than a wire wheel.  I still needed a wire wheel to get in some of those tight places

Another view of the now shiney top side of the frame

Yet another view of the top side of the frame after I cleaned it up.

The bottom of the frame, prepped and ready for paint

Another view of the bottom.

While upside down, take a look at the underside of the toolbox to see what year the mower was made.  This one was made in 1943.

 To really get the prep done right, I decided to remove the pitman shaft from the mower.  Here's how I did it.  I sat over the top of the mower with my right side towards the front of the mower, and my left side to the rear.  I grabbed an old wire/rod from a hay rake and a pipe wrench, and I removed it exactly how the Lynn Miller book says.  I took the lid off the gear box.  I then slid the hook part of the wire/rod tool between the gear teeth to hold it still.  This is where the book doesn't clarify.  Just so you know, the pitman come off in a counter-clockwise motion if looking at it from the front.  In order to do this, you have to hook the part of the rod on the UNDER SIDE of the gear.  Once the rod is in place, place your pipe wrench on the pitman shaft that is sticking out, and pull the pipe wrench towards you.  I was shocked at how each mine came out.  This was one of the few things on this mower to go easy.

The removed pitman shaft, prepped and cleaned

This is the rod/tool I used.  It is an old rod from a hay rake.  This worked perfectly

And this is a picture of some of the parts just sitting waiting for prep.

IH #9 Mower Page