Woods Mower - Can the paint be this bad?

[jk96]

Thanks for all of the quick replies everyone. Just FYI - here's a another view of the current condition.

 

[rbargeron]

I'm getting to this thread late- but I'm pretty sure they are not the same mower. Woods changed the color on all their mowers sometime in the late '90s. I've owned both - my earlier one (~1994) was the lighter color - my current one (2006) is the more orange color. It is maybe possible the salesman thinks they are the same if he hasn't seen very many of these over the years - but the paint color change was obvious when they made it. The early color never fades to look like the later one - they just get rusty as the paint falls off. Both of your pictures appear to show the later gearbox design. The paint doesn't matter much - they all tend to live outdoors so they get looking pretty bad even though they may be ok mechanically. The real test is how many hours they have on them and what condition they are in - blade holders, bearings, tensioner, belts, sheaves, etc. When I was looking last year, dealers seemed to be asking around $1500 for the older "experienced" ones, $2800 and up for the fresher ones.

First pic is the color of my first one - it looked more like your current pic when I sold it last summer for $1400. The second pic is the nearly new one I have now. Keep looking - you'll find the right deal.

 

[teg]

Not the same... unless it can grow paint. They are playing you like a fool; tell you a BS story like that. Look elsewhere.

 

[bucmeister]

Run Forrest, run like the wind. I have a RM990 bought in 1994 and agree with all of the posters that have said it is different machines in the original two pictures. Will also agree that the machine itself is tough, Woods paint technology is horrible, and the metal rusts very easily once the paint flakes off. How they are still in business with such pitiful paint history I do not know. Frankly, $2500 for a 5 year old machine is high in my opinion. This dealer is definitely trying to pull a fast one on you!!!! I would drive the 200 miles in a hearbeat to verify.

 

[mikim]

I don't get why the paint job on my BB600 isn't bad. It still looks good after 7 years of use and sitting outside -- it shows wear - but nothing like what you are showing or what folks are saying. It's the orange color and certainly hasn't faded to yellow.

 

[PitbullMidwest]

...Woods changed the color on all their mowers sometime in the late '90s.

The change in color was probably due to environmental concerns. The lighter color yellow is characteristic of paint with a high chromium content. The hex chrome greatly extends the paint and metal life. Most heavy equipment manufacturers stopped using or reduced the amount of chromium content in their paint in the '80s and '90s.

They build Case backhoes here in Burlington and they went through a huge enviromental cleanup in the late '80s to address high chromium levels in the ground water. Case backhoes manufactured after the cleanup are much more "orange" than they were before because of the absence of chromium.

Based on the color of the second one, I'd say it is much older than 2003 and is not the same one shown in the original picture.

 

[Zick]

Not the same... unless it can grow paint. They are playing you like a fool; tell you a BS story like that. Look elsewhere.

Nice catch Teg, defiantly not the same.

 

[lawn_king]

I also think you have 2 different machines there. Im not a big fan of the so called powder coat finish (oven baked) system! I think a two coat primer/paint finish is far superior. I have a woods pl 60 core aerator, the construction of the implement is awesome, the paint was junk after 1 year.

 

[PSDStu]

Both my Rotary Cutter and RFM are Woods and are only 2 years old and have both shed paint quickly. The mechanicals are fine, but the paint job put on by Woods is very poor IMHO.

 

[Soundguy]

I wonder if their metal is contaminated with an oil residue that makes it shed / flake so quickly?

soundguy