Snowplows receive a lot of hard use during a busy season and wear and tear can take their toll. Maintaining a snowplow is much less expensive than replacing it or making significant repairs. So, it’s important to take time to inspect and service the mechanical parts of your plow as well as refinish rusty components.
General Snowplow Maintenance
- Check to be sure all fasteners are properly tightened.
- Inspect electrical connections to be sure they’re not loose or corroded.
- Be sure all the moving contact points are properly greased.
- The plows cutting edge must be in proper condition to cut through snow, as well as it needs to be able to protect the moldboard. If a cutting edge is worn down to four inches or less, it’s typically ready for replacement.
- If your snowplow has plow shoes check to be sure they can keep your blade off the ground. If they can’t, be sure to replace them.
- Inspect the plow and vehicle mounts for cracks.
Keep Rust from Forming on the Snowplow Blade
The best way to avoid rust damage is to keep rust from forming in the first place. After use, especially after being in contact with salt, wash the snowplow blade, frame and other components to remove dirt and corrosives.
Steps to Refinish a Rusty Snowplow
If you find the moldboard, frame or attachment components have been scratched down to bare metal, you can be sure rust will begin to form. Spot damage repairs, as well as complete piece refinishing can be done with RustSeal. RustSeal is a very hard and durable coating that stops rust. It can handle the rigors of snowplow duty and is able to be brushed, rolled, or sprayed on. The coating flows out well, so if it’s brushed or rolled on it won’t leave brush marks.
BlackTop is a UV stable (does not chalk or fade in sunlight) topcoat that goes over RustSeal well and is ideal for the moldboard, frame or attachment components. BlackTop comes in Gloss, OEM Satin Black, or Flat allowing you to pick your desired sheen.
- The first step to refinish a rusty snowplow is thoroughly cleaning the area to be painted of any dirt, grease, salt, or other contaminants that could interfere with the adhesion of RustSeal. KBS Klean is recommended. KBS Klean is a powerful, water-based, and biodegradable cleaner.
- Next, remove any loose, scaling rust with sandpaper or a wire brush or wheel.
- If the paint or coating is loose and peeling or bubbling it will need to be removed before painting as the bond of RustSeal is only as strong as the surface to that which it’s adhered.
- If you are going to be applying RustSeal on top of an existing paint or coating, you’ll first need to scuff it, so RustSeal has a surface to bite to. This can be done with 320 grit sandpaper. Sand just enough so that the surface has a dulled appearance. If it’s shiny the RustSeal won’t adhere as well as it could.
- Wash the surface again with KBS Klean to be sure all debris and residues are removed.
- Next use RustBlast to prepare the metal for RustSeal. RustBlast is a powerful rust remover, zinc phosphate pre-primer, and metal etch that treats the metal to provide a surface to which RustSeal can strongly bond.
- Next, apply RustSeal to the treated area. For this application it’s recommended to apply a minimum of 3 thin covering coats.
- Detailed information on use of KBS Klean, RustBlast, and RustSeal can be found HERE.
- Lastly, finish off the snow plow with KBS MAXX which comes in plenty of colors and can be brushed or rolled to give an incredibly durable finish that will not chalk or fade. KBS MAXX is the ideal snow plow paint because of its brillance and long term durability.
Maintaining a snowplow is much less expensive than replacing it or making significant repairs. It’s important to take time to inspect and service the mechanical parts of your plow and refinish a rusty snowplow as necessary.