Maybe I'll replace with stainless steel versions.
Might as well; it won't cost much.
Under the veneer of old grass pulp caked on the underside of the baseplate is the beginnings of significant rust. I've wire-brushed a lot of this off, but there are areas of deeper rust I still have to wirebrush out. Then I'll paint with Killrust epoxy. But there seems no realistic way to stop the paint coming back off in the first few minutes of mowing and have the rust start up all over again. Unless there's some dodge anyone knows (Fish oil? Some brand of proprietary rust-converter)?
The old style bitumen paint is about the best to use here, as it's very resistant to flaking off under impact or abrasion.
But the only sure way to limit corrosion under a steel mower deck, is to hose it out immediately after use. And an occasional scrub down, with a brush. This has worked for 29 years thus far, for my inherited SupaSwift Big Bob...
This is very easily done with a 2-stroke, as the only concern is fuel spillage - you tip it in a direction that has the fuel filler uppermost. The main reason this procedure has not been much recommended by manufacturers in recent times, is the prevalence of 4-stroke engines. Tipping these in the wrong direction [anything other than spark plug uppermost] causes all sorts of problems with engine oil getting into places you don't want it to be. And most owners don't 'RTFM' [i.e. Read The Flippin' Manual] enough to avoid these problems.
