What do you guys use?
While I'm down there with spindle work..

I don't use anything. Some people use vegetable oil. Have you used a coating before?

Yes I usually wire wheel then epoxy primer then whatever paint I have.
No ww or spraying this time though cause it is in the cellar.
It does have patina going on.

Can you wire clean it and use an auto undercoating? I don’t know if it would last but have to be better than paint?

Osky

Did mine with fluid film.

Me too I got a spray can that I used......jk

First thing I do with a new mower is flip it over before the oil goes in and degrease the underside, spray it with a high quality primer, then spray it with a commercial machine paint. Makes the deck last for several motors.

For many years I used something called "Slip-plate". It is an epoxy with graphite that is made to coat the inside of grain hoppers. One area that I used to mow had a lot of hickory trees, with a lot of nuts. I found that mowing this area the last of the season would completely clean the bottom of the decks. Then just paint the slip-plate and watch how much easier the next mowing is. I also built a pressure washing system that the mowers were driven over, which helped clean the decks. I had three mowers that had 72" decks, and mowed about 62 acres a week. I hope this helps.
Zookeeper

I like the hickory nut idea. I had no clue that it helps clean the deck. Thank you !

I would think Fluid Film, and others that do not dry, would cause the grass to stick to it and build up inside the deck.

Picked up some stuff called PCR 15.
Of everything I've tried, 2 part epoxy has been the better.
I'll know by next fall how this does, or sooner lol.

Car wax a thick heavy coat. Same as on the snow blades, buckets, shovels and snow blowers

I use fresh cut grass. The deck seems to out last the motor.

My thought as well . And tires seems like I'm always messing around with tires.

Local family tire shop does all mine, except ag tires.

Top side ready for primer. Factory paint is $140 a friggin quart
so rustoleum it is.

Deck being completely stripped of carriage makes this the time.
It aint no MTD.

Never heard of it but looked it up- they have a SlipPlate MowerGuard product.

This is something I definitely need to do on my mower deck. The grass clippings were sticking so bad towards the end of the season last year that I had to stop and scrape the deck off several times to finish up. You can hear the load on the motor increase as the grass starts to build up. Long wet grass is the worst- it helps only mowing when the mornings due is completely burned off, but that isn’t always an option.

Hopefully going over everything with a wire wheel and then applying a coat of primer and a coat of enamel gets everything back to where it doesn’t stick so bad. Like ADC suggested -a coat of car wax after the fresh paint might be a good idea as well?

I sometimes use wax on the saw before cutting pine. It helps wear the sap off faster.