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[WinterDeere]

Never had luck with powder coated anything, for outdoor use. It’s so bad, that I always wondered why trailer and hitch manufacturers boast about it in their advertising.

Paint may not be as durable to initial abrasion, but at least it sticks to the metal. A durable coating is useless, if it’s laying on the ground next to the trailer, after two or three winters.

 

[California]

Never had luck with powder coated anything, for outdoor use. It’s so bad, that I always wondered why trailer and hitch manufacturers boast about it in their advertising.

Paint may not be as durable to initial abrasion, but at least it sticks to the metal. A durable coating is useless, if it’s laying on the ground next to the trailer, after two or three winters.

That was my experience, lots of peeling. I didn't know it was universal.

We repainted the trailer with some old - 20 years from the back of the barn - alkyd enamel. It took a month to dry but now 5 years later none has peeled and it looks great. Like that powder coating should have.

 

[Captain Dirty]

Powder coating applies an electricly charged plastic particle coating to an oppositely charged object reducing the costs of overspray and nusiance of capturing air pollution. Then heat is applied to fuse the particles together into a "durable" coating. I have heard that is is possible to apply the coating "properly", but so doing requires care and expense that many forego. My experience is that the coating is hard but brittle; stone strikes (driving on gravel roads), chain strikes (lashing a load), or other fortuitous events cause a crack or chip that admits water that then begets more chipping and peeling. Sometimes I see a primer, with which the powder did not bind, and sometime I see bare metal.

If Murphy is feeling charitable the powder coat may last for the warranty period. If not, the warranty deniers will argue that stone strikes, etc. are normal wear and tear and thus not covered. As others have noted, alkyd primers adhere well to properly prepared base surfaces and to alkyd enamels. Another retro-grouch observation that the old ways were better.

 

[flyerdan]

Proper prep is everything for powder coating. Most of the adherence problems come from the chemical dip cleaning process, that's less than ideal. The best results we got were from an outfit that would sandblast everything and flash it right before shooting.
Not having any sharp corners helps immensely when building whatever it is - if you can knock the edges off angle iron and other sharp edges it will eliminate the stress points when the coating shrinks due to temp changes.

 

[WinterDeere]

Honestly, I don't really care about the reasoning, only the results. I have never seen a powder coated anything that has held up well. It just doesn't.

Alkyd enamel takes 28 days for 2nd-phase cure, which is something like 75% to 90% full strength. Not as durable, but at least it's still adhering to the metal after several years. Wear points are rarely a rust problem, anyway.

 

[dstig1]

I have a local shop that does great work powder coating. I have given them several projects and they still look like new. Including the rotary broom that I use for snow removal all winter. But he does it right. Reasonable on cost too.

 

[seville009]

 

[WinterDeere]

View attachment 871619

You know the balance is scary when you need to fill the loader bucket and then hang six 70 lb. suitcase weights on the front of the trailer, to get it to ride.

What happens when the hydraulics bleed down?

 

[Thomas]

View attachment 871619

 

[dstig1]

I fail to see the issue. I mean he flipped the seat forward and all! It's balanced! Stop bothering him!