Mower Review

- How do you fix a cracked John Deere Tractor hood?
I have a 1997 John Deere tractor and the hood has a crack in it, how do i fix it?

A Pick up a "fibre glass" at the hardware store and follow instructions. It's easy.

- I have a John Deere Mower the hood is cracked, how do I repair it?
I used an epoxy to glue it together but it cracked in another spot. The problem is where you pull to lift the hood is to weak I need to reinforce it but it is not a flat spot so I need something that can be curved like the hood. Thought about fiberglass but not sure if it will hold. I have some thin metal but dont want to drill holes to attach it to the hood. A new one is to expensive $380

A Okay, I know I'm going to get alot of bad comments about this but I know it works because I fix everything that is possible to fix and I don't always use accepted or routine methods to do so. Sand the section of the hood you want to repair so you have something to attach it to. Go to the auto repair shop or Farm and Fleet. There is a fiber material (It's actually fiber glass) used for body work. There is a can of fiberglass stuff that is used with it (can't remember the name off the top of my head). Anyway, you pour the liquid into a flat container and dip the material in it (make sure it is cut to size and properly fitted before you do so) then you place it over the crack and smooth it down good. Let it dry, sand it (or if you did a great job of smoothing it, you could just paint over it). It reinforces the metal and works just great. The liquid dries very fast so be sure you are absolutely ready to apply it before you pour it into the pan. And for goodness sake -- be sure to use rubber gloves. I've used it on Dirt Devil Vaccuum Cleaner fronts (they're plastic). The Dirt Devils had such great suction that the plastic fronts sucked in and cracked -- poor testing and design I presume but my modification allows my vaccuum to suck bowling balls. Since I didn't paint the patch, the vaccuum doesn't look so pretty but it sure sucks! If you don't want to use fiberglass, then you can get pieces of screen (Screen can be molded) and use regular body putty or Maxi Glue to glue the screen to the hood. It will give it a little extra strength. Additionally, there is the pipe hanger tape -- it's metal tape that has holes in it. You can use self-tapping sheet metal screws to screw the metal tape to the inside of the hood to reinforce it or you can use an instant (we like Maxi glue) glue to glue the metal tape to the hood. There is also aluminum tape that can be fitted and molded to hard to fit spots. It is water-proof and is used for pipe and body repair. There are so many great new products out there today that can be modified to be used on other things that there is hardly any reason to throw away something that works anymore. You might be better off going to a junk yard or a garage sale or drive around your neighborhood looking for one that is being junked on trash day.