# New Snowblower ALREADY Rusting. Tips for prevention?



## crosis38 (Dec 15, 2012)

I used my new Toro snow blower about 5 times this year and already i'm seeing significant rust within the busy end. I was expecting rust to appear 12 months from now not within 1 month. Sheesh. I figure the problem was rocks slamming into the paint exposing the iron -- mixed with the air and water the corrosion went to town. Before the winter started i applied a generous amount of Fluid Film on the inside.

Anyway was wondering if you guys have confirmed strategies for stopping the rust THEN applying a durable coating to help greatly reduce future issues. I was thinking

1. Wire brush any loose rust
2. Apply a generous amount of some Rust Converter -- i live in Canada so we only have Rust Check -- this never works for me
3. Spray a generous layer of some paint enamel OR 3M Paint Defender Film or a Truck Bed Liner.

Your thoughts?


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## deezlfan (Nov 8, 2017)

This is unfortunate. 

Odds are the metal wasn't cleaned properly before the housing went into powder coat. And once powder coat fails, it is very difficult to halt the corrosion without stripping and starting over. The coating traps the moisture underneath and odds are it will be coming off in big patches. You certainly can try treatments and paint but I haven't seen many examples of success doing so.


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## jsup (Nov 19, 2017)

Can you disassemble it and take it to a good commercial powder coater to do it right. Sand Blast it prep it and powder coat it. This doesn't sound right as stated above.


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## FlamingSpaghetti (Jan 8, 2018)

My MTD although quite a number of years older, is doing the same thing. I had paint flaking off in areas in large pieces and I have found that Rustoleum spray primer with the rust inhibitor seems to do the trick, provided you don't care how the machine looks. Any area I noticed that had rust, I sprayed with this and I haven't had an issue since. Been using it for years like this now. The machine's overall value doesn't justify me tearing it down and getting it powder coated and I don't care how it looks, function over form for me. Not an ideal look but the Rustoleum definitely did the trick in stopping the rust from getting worse.


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## Yanmar Ronin (Jan 31, 2015)

If it's within warranty maybe you can get some relief there?


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## dhazelton (Dec 8, 2014)

POWDER COATING STINKS. Once it chips water gets under and because it's a hard film it comes off in sheets and can NOT be touched up. Use Rustoleum red oxide primer and oil based enamel paint. As far as rust removal if you get a quart of phosphoric acid from a paint store or home center (it may be sold as concrete or metal prep) it will convert any rust you can't sand off to a paintable black surface and etch the clean metal.


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## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

I'd spray the inside bucket area with a light oil a couple of times a season and once before you put it away for the summer. You'll probably be long gone before it rusts through.


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## mobiledynamics (Nov 21, 2014)

I'm not looking up the specs...BUT are manuf these days PC the buckets or paint. I would think paint, since it's cheaper off the line....


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## jsup (Nov 19, 2017)

dhazelton said:


> POWDER COATING STINKS. Once it chips water gets under and because it's a hard film it comes off in sheets and can NOT be touched up. Use Rustoleum red oxide primer and oil based enamel paint. As far as rust removal if you get a quart of phosphoric acid from a paint store or home center (it may be sold as concrete or metal prep) it will convert any rust you can't sand off to a paintable black surface and etch the clean metal.


I've used powder coating on a lot of things without a problem, however I have a local professional shop that is very conscious or prep. I have had good luck with their stuff on car frames and such. Perhaps a snow blower isn't one of it's best applications. 

That being said, acid does work great, good idea. I forgot about that. But one thing with acid, you have to prime it almost immediately or else rust develops. I've used Muratic acid, not sure if it matters.


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## jsup (Nov 19, 2017)

Yanmar Ronin said:


> If it's within warranty maybe you can get some relief there?


Great question, I looked it up.

https://www.torodealer.com/en-us/Pages/Warranty.aspx#w11

Under "frame warrantee" it addresses rust.


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

By rocks I infer a gravel driveway, at least in part? That will cream any paint and expose steel. Bare steel and surface rust is a "when" not "if" proposition. Store the machine so it can dry between uses and be sure to rinse away and salt residue at the end of the season. You will have bare steel and some flash rust but that should not rot the machine away.


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## deezlfan (Nov 8, 2017)

> I'm not looking up the specs...BUT are manuf these days PC the buckets or paint. I would think paint, since it's cheaper off the line....


Most OPE is powder coated. A couple of things that I hear make powder coat cheaper are recycling of the unused power in closed systems and government regulations regarding VOCs. 

I do not think paint is in fact cheaper in the long run when it comes to production line manufacturing. Most companies that are still painting are using modern water borne paint systems that require extensive clean rooms to provide high quality finishes [auto manufacturing]. Water borne finishes are also very thin compared to the old enamels we grew up with. Durability becomes an issue. The safety and environmental costs of the older solvent based systems just got to be too costly.


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

Spectrum said:


> By rocks I infer a gravel driveway, at least in part? That will cream any paint and expose steel. Bare steel and surface rust is a "when" not "if" proposition. Store the machine so it can dry between uses and be sure to rinse away and salt residue at the end of the season. You will have bare steel and some flash rust but that should not rot the machine away.


My experience is just as you say. My oldest blower has been in that state for 27 years and no problems, no eat-through and my younger one is following the older one...:laugh:

I did sand, prime and enamel rattle can top coat the inside auger bucket and impeller housing on my older one about 10 years ago and it went back to silver and light rust within 6 months...been that way since.


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## crosis38 (Dec 15, 2012)

*Warranty for Rust?*



jsup said:


> Great question, I looked it up.
> 
> https://www.torodealer.com/en-us/Pages/Warranty.aspx#w11
> 
> Under "frame warrantee" it addresses rust.


Hmmm, the link is no good. Probably some referral url it is looking for which explains the redirect im seeing.

Anyway i would like to see if the failed *powder coating / rust is covered by warranty*. I've already tried contacting Toro but as expected they have no idea. Nice. They told me to contact my local dealer and ask them. 

I would like to know my rights / warranty before going for obvious reasons. If anyone can confirm warranty for a Toro 1080 OXHE https://www.toro.com/en/professional-contractor/snow-removal/power-max-hd-1028-ohxe-38802. I'm located in Ontario, Canada. 

The unit was registered with Toro exactly 12 months ago but was used for first time this year.


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## jsup (Nov 19, 2017)

crosis38 said:


> Hmmm, the link is no good. Probably some referral url it is looking for which explains the redirect im seeing.
> 
> Anyway i would like to see if the failed *powder coating / rust is covered by warranty*. I've already tried contacting Toro but as expected they have no idea. Nice. They told me to contact my local dealer and ask them.
> 
> ...


Why don't you give Toro a call. I find a phone call does a lot of good, it's hard to say NO to a person, in person. If the customer service person doesn't help, go over their head. I send an $800 car stereo back to the CEO of Kenwood in a box, with a note, got a call and a new stereo a few days later.

I'd start with, "how do I handle a warrantee claim". Don't ask, tell them, it's under warrantee. They will probably send you back to the dealer, so go back there and say "Toro said to deal with you with this warrantee claim" as if it's a done deal.

You need to be assertive, and if it were my brand new machine, 1 year old is brand new, I'd make sure they'd replace it.


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

I totally agree with this approach. That's how you get things done. I forgot how new crosis38's Toro is (when I posted about painting).



jsup said:


> ...I'd start with, "how do I handle a warrantee claim". Don't ask, tell them, it's under warrantee. They will probably send you back to the dealer, so go back there and say "Toro said to deal with you with this warrantee claim" as if it's a done deal.
> 
> You need to be assertive, and if it were my brand new machine, 1 year old is brand new, I'd make sure they'd replace it.


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## tangochuck (Dec 13, 2020)

I just bot a new Toro 1030. After reading all these posts, and BTW, thanks for everyone's time; I'm going to spray my new one down with Penetrol, a oil based paint additive. We used to spray it on our cars back in Cleveland to minimize rust. Its cool stuff.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Welcome to SBF Tangochuck









Depending on where you're at it's always good to do the pile at the end of your driveway first. Especially if the street was salted/sanded. That way you have the rest of the snow in your driveway, walkway, turnaround, ... to rinse out the machine from the corrosive stuff off the street.


.


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## gibbs296 (Jun 22, 2014)

good product...https://www.por15.com


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