rust preventative metal paint

[Frank Thompson]

Any opinions and experiences with rust preventative paint for tractor equipment? A few years back I had a horse trailer professionally sandblasted and then painted with Rust-Oleum undercoat and finish. Within a few years the white trailer was brownish orange with rust. Immediately after sandblasting it had been wiped off with clean rags to remove any lingering residue and undercoat applied (all the same day)...was kept under shelter a couple of days and then finish applied. Are there better alternatives that Rust-Oleum?

[newsreader]

Rustoleum has always been my first choice. IIRC they now say it can be applied directly to clean metal without a primer.

My best results have been to use a Zinc Chromate primer first on the clean metal. I did this to a 10" diameter steel pole that holds the sign at my business back around 1979. Then painted it white. After going on

27 years, we just recently repainted it. There were a few small areas where rust was starting to blister the paint, but not many. I painted it with a brush, & applied a pretty heavy coat.

I think on slightly rusty metal you are supposed to use that red primer, forgotten the name. It allegedly bonds to rust & stops it.

[wayne]

[Ann]

There may be something better now, but 25+ years ago, my ex sandblasted and painted several items with Imron. One was one of the metal pans for mixing small batches of concrete. The surface coat did eventually abrade some but it held up surprisingly well. A major benefit was that it was easy to clean with water after use. He followed the instructions and key to success was applying the specified phosphate pre-primer immediately after sandblasting, followed by the regular (red) primer and topcoat.

[Bruce Marshall]

Take a look at POR-15 which is a new rust treatment/paint. My friends swear by it (I just did the rear bumper on my Explorer) and it is used by many shops that do treatments for chassis etc.....

(lots of places sell it on the web)

[Neon John]

I second the recommendation for POR_15, though it is hardly new, having been around for a good 20 years at least. I still have the trailer that I used it on back in 1985 or thereabouts.

John