Preferred paints

[OldPaint]

I see lots of mods, and most are very handsomely painted, so I gotta ask what you guys typically use for paint on your mods projects.

I bought an old trailer from a work buddy in anticipation of getting a tractor, and started cleaning it up to make it look a little better, I picked up some rattle cans of Krylon Farm Implement paint from the local parts house, and I have to say, I'm quite impressed. Even with just one coat, after a year of sitting out in the weather, the paint is holding up quite nicely with a few exceptions where I didn't clean enough rust off. I was originally just trying to grind out the rust and just cover it up until I could get it to a proper paint shop, but now, I don't think I'll bother. The trailer's probably 40+ years old, but still got good bones, and it's a **** of a lot cheaper than a new trailer. If I can remember, I'll take a photo of the can and post it back here sometime after Xmas.

Just curiosity, more than anything else, because I'll probably stick with the Krylon. I always thought it was cheap paint, but this stuff hangs in there pretty good.

 

[MF243RedTop]

I've had good luck with TSC farm and implement paint by Rust-Oleum...as good or better than paint from a dealer.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/catalog/tractor-automotive-paint

Have you used a rust treatment before?
If not look into it.. it takes a lot of work out of prep and converts the rust to a paint ready surface..



My rust converter of choice but there's lots out there.

 

[KennyG]

I've had good luck with Rustoleum, as long as I let it alone long enough to harden. It takes weeks to get to full hardness but then it's really tough. If you have much to paint consider going with quarts and a cheap ($10 from Harbor Freight) HVLP gun. Works a lot better than spray cans and is cheaper too.

 

[3Ts]

The paint prep and primer is key to a durable top coat.
The Ospho that MF24 mentions is also my first choice in prep & primer.

 

[jaydee325]

For a project involving something in the power sports category (motorcycles, ATV, UTV etc), Colorrite.com has a great on line tool to look up the color codes. You can either order the paint and materials from them or take the paint code to your favorite vendor.

 

[PILOON]

Some 12 years ago I bought a used snow blower.
I took it to a DIY sand blasting location* and stripped it down to bare metal.

Immediately took it home and spray primed with a grey Tremclad primer and next day added a coating of red Tremclad.

To this day 90% of the primer has held while maybe 60% or so of the enamel still shows.
It is natural that the fan, auger and chute would suffer the most wear mainly due to sand, gravel, stones etc.

A good job is all in the prepping!

*they had 3-4 200 CFM compressors, hoods with fresh air etc. and rack to raise smaller projects.
They rented the air by the hour and sold the abrasive by the sack.
I did a few vehicles there and later blasted some furniture as well.
Did a fantastic job on metal patio chairs.
Hard wood furniture came out really well as long as there was no dry rot.
On soft woods blasting made a very interesting raised grain effect.

Sand blasting has the advantage of creating a toothy surface that primers can really hold onto.

One major project was to completely sand blast a 24 x 36 log cabin that had 30 years of ageing on it.
That took a whole day and 15/20 bags of medium. result was fantastic, back to like new.

 

[chim]

I've had great results with Pittsburgh AUE coatings. They're two-part and hold up well. The snowblower in the picture was refurbed and used 5 years before the picture was taken. Other than the scrubbing in the fan chamber, it was still looking real good. Sold the blower along with the L3200 about a year ago.

There are other two part paints from True Value and Rustoleum that I have tried for odds and ends as well. I think the important thing is to use a coating with a hardener.

 

[Rebeldad1]

Krylon is good . With the fan spray even better. Most all my equipment I have painted with rustoleum qts or gallons and a brush. Paint flows out nicely and looks great.

 

[EddieWalker]

About 10 years ago the Federal Government changed how paint companies had to go about making paint to save us from Man Made Global Warming. Some companies figured out a way to do this and still have good quality paint, others failed miserably. All have to charge a lot more money for decent paint. Valspar/Sherwin Williams/Zinnser/Rustolium is all the same company, and they are what I consider the standard of what other paint companies should be. If you can find find a paint of similar quality for less money, go for it. To be safe, and make sure my clients are happy with what I do for them, these are the only paint brands that I buy for jobs that I'm hired to do.

 

[WranglerX]

Pretty much a fan of Rust-Oleum products other than house paints.......

Dale