thought's on sandblasting a tractor?

JohnDeereJimOhio · May 16, 2013

The last tractor I painted I only got the parts I could take off of blasted, and the wheels. The better half spent the better part of the winter while in the garage wire wheeling her tractor. It turned out pretty good. However my G pulling tractor is ready for paint and I had a sand blaster coming to cob-blast it. He called me and said he was having no luck finding the media close. So he said he would just sand blast it. Everything I have read about getting a whole tractor blasted is bad news bears. What are your guys opinions or story's with it? I know i can put caulk around all the opening and tape everything off. However I know it will still get places I don't want it. I would hate to ruin my engine or tranny. Would I just be better off with oven cleaner and paint stripper and the wire wheel? This is what I am leaning towards and then getting the other parts blasted.

Texasmark1 · May 16, 2013

I never liked blasting moving parts as I didn't want sand in the works and surely if you blast it's gonna get in there.

Mark

Goose · May 16, 2013

I've never sand blasted a tractor, but I've done a fair share of sandblasting on car and pickup bodies to clean up rust, and no matter what precautions you take, you'll ALWAYS find sand where you never expected to.

On a tractor, wheels, sheet metal, seats, and any other parts that can be removed and taken elsewhere to blast, yes. The engine and main part of the tractor, no.

gene bender · May 16, 2013

I strip them down some and seal the openings. Still running one i did 25yrs ago no problems. Not that hard to do.

Meangreen · May 16, 2013

We soda blasted the main part of my tractor prior to painting. Taped off all the open hole and went at it. The soda will actually explode into a dust when it hits the surface you are blasting. The kicker is it is more expensive to do and you need to have all the dirt and grease removed prior to blasting. Yes it does require diffrent equipment than sand blasting.

jon f mn · May 16, 2013

Did a dc case years ago, sand got in under the tape and every where. Also took out a lot of seals and gaskets. Didn't find the leaks til I started running it after the paint. Never again for me. Wire brush and stripper only.

HenryO · May 16, 2013

I had a Farmall M sand blasted 7 years ago and never had a bit of trouble. I think it all depends on preparation and the person doing th blasting. However, sand is insidious . Better to use other materials. I was surprised to learn that the biggest collector in this area only uses wire brushes on his grinders to prepare his machinery.

Mike M · May 16, 2013

I NEVER blast one unless I plan on a complete tear down afterward to clean it all out.
Years ago I had one plastic media blasted and then primed and then tore it all the way down and restored it.
I bought a model 40W that someone long before me did the sandblast and paint route on it. When I tore it down to restore it I found evidence of where the sand ruined things like the front wheel bearings.

Richard G. · May 16, 2013

Never again. I wound up taking the engine apart and pressure washing it out. You cannot tape places enough to keep the sand out.
Richard

smallercrawler · May 16, 2013

An alternative to sand/soda blasting that I've seen used in the food industry is dry ice. The ice is in small pellets and it cleans both by mechanical impact and thermally as it hits the base material and sublimates almost immeadiately. It is expensive but does an excellent job and will clean down to bare metal, and requires no masking.

inkspot · May 16, 2013

in the printing business they ICE a press to clean up they use dry ice to blsst the filth off the dry ice evaporates and only leaves the sludg seems to me that is the way to go even better than soda dont know about expense or availabity might be worth looking in to

Old-F20 · May 16, 2013

ive sandblasted dozens of tractors cars and trucks over the years. the basic jist of it is good preperation. just like a quality paint job, its only as good as the prep work

mkirsch · May 16, 2013

So far in this thread I think I've counted three people who sandblasted their tractors. Two were successful, one had problems.

The two that were successful got away with it, period. They lucked out in that no sand got anywhere important, because no amount of taping and masking will keep the sand out if you happen to point the nozzle in a spot long enough.

Most people will get away with sandblasting a tractor, but every once in a while someone does it and ends up with a very expensive problem. The question is do you want to take that chance?

Watch a person's tune change the first time they have an issue with their sandblasted tractor.

greygoat · May 16, 2013

Every one else on here today has already said it !
There's no way to keep sand out !!!!!!!!!

thought's on sandblasting a tractor?

JohnDeereJimOhio

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Texasmark1

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Goose

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gene bender

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Meangreen

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jon f mn

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HenryO

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Mike M

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Richard G.

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smallercrawler

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inkspot

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Old-F20

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mkirsch

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greygoat

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