Thinking about buying and painting a Farmall

Caseihtom2 · Aug 13, 2017

I recently found a 1950 Farmall H for sale in my area and thinking about buying it as an FFA project. This would be my first tractor to purchase to restore(repaint and replace wear parts). My question is on the painting side, I have researched different ways of cleaning and prep work and I think I know my route of action for the prep work but I can't decide on what paint I'm going to use. I don't have a supplied air system and I don't want to use harder due to the side effects of not using the proper system. Will normal paint from the dealer last? Or should I invest in a different paint? Being only 16 I want it to last many years to come. Any advice is appreciated and thanks in advance!
Tom

Geo-TH,In · Aug 14, 2017

I bought a 1950 farmall C had painted it and it turned the
color of an AC, so we nicknamed the tractor Alice.

I went to Rural King and bought a gallon of their Farmall red
paint, hardener, and thinner. About $50. I added a little
mineral spirits to thin it a little more. Years later it still
looks better. Red paint tends to fade if you leave tractor
outside, UV rays. If you want it not to fade, check into clear
coat. I use my tractors, so I couldn't see putting a lot of
money into a paint job. It won't take very long using a tractor
before they look they did before you painted it.

You may ask the boys on Restoration site what they think. Some
want to cover their tractor and use it once a year in a parade.
So do you want a working girl or a parade queen? Same your
money if you want a working girl, buy cheap paint, paint often.
geo

ohiojim · Aug 14, 2017

without a high quality paint and the proper equipment to apply it you wont be happy with the results

showcrop · Aug 14, 2017

Most Farmalls that you see have been repainted 2-3 times. If they are red they have been kept under color. As Geo said, red fades badly without hardener. Most people like to have something that they spend a lot of time on to last awhile. If you are going to put over fifty hours on the prep use good paint. If it is going to be a five hour prep save your money and use cheap paint. On something that I spend a lot of time on, I use Nason low end automotive paint.

rustyfarmall · Aug 14, 2017

If you want good paint that is reasonably priced, go to your local Case-IH dealer and get some IH 2150 red. Cost is about the same as the farm store stuff and is MUCH better paint. It will not turn orange or pink like the farm store stuff.

teddy52food · Aug 14, 2017

I painted my super C about 40 years ago with Rustoleum IHC red and it still looks good today. It is shedded most of the time unless it is out working. Maybe their paint has changed over the years, but it was good back then.

Ragnarok · Aug 14, 2017

I should've taken some pics of the old Farmall 400 I worked on a few months back. It had fresh paint and looked ok except the left and right hoods got painted with minimal repair of dents...I mean the hoods looked like someone had thrown them down in a cattle pen to get tromped flat like for years...then went looking for them when they painted the tractor..knocked the cow manure off with a garden hose and painted!

Really?? I could barely restrain myself from getting my soft mallet and whanging-out some dents! Wasn't my tractor however...so I just re-curved them a bit so they fit better when I put it back together...

No moral to the story except at least straighten the sheet metal before putting on a good paint job!

dhermesc · Aug 14, 2017

I have a Farmall 350 I painted in 1998 that looked real good up about a 3 years ago and still looks pretty good today but fade is starting to show. It has been kept under a roof since I painted it but its has definitely seen its share of use - especially in the last 10 years.

When I painted it I wet sanded the sheetmetal - I only took it down to a 600 grit. The castings were power washed then wire brushed. Everything was painted with Rustoleum - the sheetmeal was sprayed and the castings were brush painted using some quality brushes. I did not use hardner and the paint was soft for over a year afterwards - but it didn't get used much in that timeframe either.

Two things made my life a lot easier on that project - the paint that was on the tractor was heavily oxidized - making wet sanding a lot easier. The other was the sheetmetal was in good shape everything was straight and no rust pits.

rustyfarmall · Aug 14, 2017

(quoted from post at 05:26:30 08/14/17)
If you want good paint that is reasonably priced, go to your local Case-IH dealer and get some IH 2150 red. Cost is about the same as the farm store stuff and is MUCH better paint. It will not turn orange or pink like the farm store stuff.

I will also add, if you are on a strict budget, buy the 2150 in quarts, get a GOOD brush, and paint all the cast iron parts. Aerosol "rattle can" paint will give excellent results on the sheet metal.

Caseihtom2 · Aug 14, 2017

Thank you all to the replys and advice. My plan to apply it is using a hvlp air sprayer. My next question is will a clear coat on dealer paint have
the same lasting effects as hardener in the paint? Also if I were to buy an automotive brand how who I get the paint matched up to be correct?.
Thanks
Tom

Leroy · Aug 14, 2017

I have use a lot of Rustoleum in spray cans the last few years with no problems with hardening. This is on machinery, Before I tried the Rustoleum I had some tractor spray cans from a farm supply store and that took months to harden. The Rustoleum I can handle in just a couple of hours, the other could not handle after a week. And I use the candy apple red for the McCormick horse drawn machinery. I have never been able to use a paint sprayer. And if I could with as many times as I have to paint on the same part by moving to get a different area of it if I was using a paint sprayer that I had to clean I would be washing away in cleaning it twice the paint I was able to use. And the dealer that gets all the machinery that I rebuild has never had a complaint about the paint.

David G · Aug 14, 2017

I would stay away from farm supply paints, dealer 2150 should be OK.

Hardener really makes the paint better; where you at, maybe someone can loan you breather air?

I have breathing air kit and am in Iowa.

Caseihtom2 · Aug 14, 2017

I'm from Northwest Ohio

504 · Aug 14, 2017

I bought a 504 that had been painted by the dealer,8 years later I asked the dealer what he used to paint it with,straight 2150 no extras at all.

ss55 · Aug 14, 2017

Will the tractor be parked in a shed or parked outside in the weather? What are your long term plans for the tractor? A "state fair" quality paint job could prevent you from using the tractor for anything but parades. Dealer paint is easily good for ten to twenty years.

Caseihtom2 · Aug 14, 2017

The tractor will be parked in the shed all the time and occasionally getting it out to move equipment and take to 1-3 shows a year. I'm leaning towards the dealer paint due to just being a show tractor and not having a supplied air system

David G · Aug 14, 2017

You are quite a ways off from worrying about paint, I would get the tractor mechanically restored first, work for a while to make sure it is good, then clean and paint.

Caseihtom2 · Aug 14, 2017

I understand what your saying there and I agree with it but I'm just trying to figure a plan out now so I have it when I need it. Thanks for everyone's help

dhermesc · Aug 14, 2017

Rattle can really fades - much faster than what comes out of the quart cans.

gab · Aug 14, 2017

Depends what you want, here's an example of dealer 2150. Was around 50 bucks a gallon when I painted my Super M plus reducer, primer and hardener. 50 bucks was about six years ago, might be more now. I had a little left and painted my mower deck, the stuff sprays nice.

rustyfarmall · Aug 14, 2017

(quoted from post at 10:04:14 08/14/17) Rattle can really fades - much faster than what comes out of the quart cans.

IH 2150 in rattle cans is the same paint as in the quart cans.

showcrop · Aug 14, 2017

(quoted from post at 10:19:53 08/14/17) Depends what you want, here's an example of dealer 2150. Was around 50 bucks a gallon when I painted my Super M plus reducer, primer and hardener. 50 bucks was about six years ago, might be more now. I had a little left and painted my mower deck, the stuff sprays nice.

GAB what type of paint is 2150? 2K urethane? Alkyd enamel? Modified Alkyd?

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