lead paint

Russ from MN · Feb 23, 2009

I am starting to disassemble and clean to paint the Farmall C we bought last fall, is the original paint lead based and what are the dangers of sanding it? Thanks in advance. Russ

Pitch · Feb 23, 2009

I think that lead was only a factor in white paint. I would just wear a good mask and go for it. That is a bunch of sanding. You taking it down to bare metal? Might be better off making some lye gravy stripper and doing it that way,only way you are gonna clean all the castings anyway.

Russ from MN · Feb 23, 2009

No I'm not going to take the whole thing down to bare metal, just sand existing paint smooth and remove any rust spots. the sheet metal is pretty good, so no bodywork! The castings I am just going to degrease and sand or wire brush. We did a JD M this way about 10 years ago and it worked quite well, these are working tractors that go to town to the parade and then back to the farm to work.

Wardner · Feb 23, 2009

Red and green had the highest levels of lead. It was also the reason the old IH trucks only offered those truck colors for a number of years. It was comparatively durable in the pre and post war years. If memory serves me correctly, I think most Macks were similarly painted. I have seen alot of antique Macks with green frames and red sheet metal.

Paint Mfgs have been reducing lead content since the '70s but it was very difficult to make lead-free red in automotive finishes. As recently as 8-10 years ago, red auto paints still had it. I don't know about current formulations.

You can be sure that your C has lead paint. No need to even test it.

Patsdeere · Feb 24, 2009

I got a respirator from the local hardware store. Right on the package it says it is for lead. Wear that with good, clean, new paper filters and you should be okay. Just remember you will probably be covered in dust when you are done sanding (so dust off before taking the mask off). You might think about taking paint stripper first. It cuts the sanding/wire wheeling down significantly and it doesn't create dust.

Dick L · Feb 24, 2009

Some people are allergic to cats, some people are allergic to peanuts, along with many other things that are harmful to there health. If lead paint was as bad as many claim we would not have any senior citizens. I was raised in old farm houses where my now 93 year old mother, still living alone and driving, painted the woodwork and cupboards in every house we would move into.

I would think that they would ban peanuts with the reasons for banning led paint. What was stated in an interview was, If we can save one child from lead poison it would be worth it. Children with an allergy to peanuts have a very short time to get medical help or they die and some do every year.

I am not for banning peanuts but why do people not put hazards in perspective??

lead paint

Russ from MN

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Pitch

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Russ from MN

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Wardner

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Patsdeere

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Dick L

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