Farming is hard.
- Thread starter durallymax
- Start date
No dreaming needed man 900 series can be had for well under 10k.
The dueces pump alfalfa and runs our conveyers for the hay. It's like they were designed for it, hand throttle that locks and pto on trans aswell as axles. And they do decent in fuel runnin pump and conveyer. 16 hours and about 30-40 gallons depending what fuel you run
The dueces pump alfalfa and runs our conveyers for the hay. It's like they were designed for it, hand throttle that locks and pto on trans aswell as axles. And they do decent in fuel runnin pump and conveyer. 16 hours and about 30-40 gallons depending what fuel you run
Had the Fendt and tanker both cleaned up for some service so I decided to try out the Opti-Coat on the Fendt to see how well it holds up. The paint is in pretty good shape but had enough scratches and such. . Apparently Fendt does not skimp on their paint either, they use a clear coat which is unheard of with other brands. I wasn't quite sure if they did until I fubared the paint removing a sticker with an eraser wheel (never should've on fiberglass). So I got to wet sand out that mess and the whole time it was obviously clear coat material.
It was already pressure washed so I just washed it with Ultima waterless wash and then clayed it.
I polished the paint using Menzerna FG400 with my Flex PE14 rotary on an orange CCS pad. (I like German stuff) Worked very well, I initially tried using PF2500 on my 3401 Flex but the clear is apparently very hard and that didn't even make a dent in anything.
Then stripped it with Menzerna Top Inspection and started applying the Opti-Coat. The side panels can be removed which helps a lot and I also remove the badges to make life easier. They are fastened on with clips versus glue/tape. The Fendt IFS allows you to deflate it so it can kneel to you for easier access as well. After the first panel's trial I learned quickly how much was too much or not enough and it went fairly smooth afterwards, but it sure does take a lot of time, patience and attention to detail. Didn't have time to do the cab and fenders as usual, but plan to in the future. I also appliced OC to the badges and the hood ornament.
For those who don't know, Opti Coat is a permanent Polymer paint coating. The only way to remove it is to physically abrade it off by polishing with compounds. It is very tricky to apply though, extremely small amounts of it are used. I used about 5cc total on everything I did. The 20cc syringe is said to have enough for 3 cars. You apply it sparingly and then wait a minute or so for it to self level and then flash and then level out the high spots. If you don't deal with the high spots you they will look bad and need to be polished out. Having some nice bright white light is the best way to see them, if you just look at the paint you will not see anything as its clear, when it flashes it has a rainbow like color.
Before
after pressure washing.
My Fubar, wet sanding.
After FG400
In the right light you can still see the blemishs somewhat but this part of the tractor is usually hidden and not in direct light anyways.
After opti-coat
It was already pressure washed so I just washed it with Ultima waterless wash and then clayed it.
I polished the paint using Menzerna FG400 with my Flex PE14 rotary on an orange CCS pad. (I like German stuff) Worked very well, I initially tried using PF2500 on my 3401 Flex but the clear is apparently very hard and that didn't even make a dent in anything.
Then stripped it with Menzerna Top Inspection and started applying the Opti-Coat. The side panels can be removed which helps a lot and I also remove the badges to make life easier. They are fastened on with clips versus glue/tape. The Fendt IFS allows you to deflate it so it can kneel to you for easier access as well. After the first panel's trial I learned quickly how much was too much or not enough and it went fairly smooth afterwards, but it sure does take a lot of time, patience and attention to detail. Didn't have time to do the cab and fenders as usual, but plan to in the future. I also appliced OC to the badges and the hood ornament.
For those who don't know, Opti Coat is a permanent Polymer paint coating. The only way to remove it is to physically abrade it off by polishing with compounds. It is very tricky to apply though, extremely small amounts of it are used. I used about 5cc total on everything I did. The 20cc syringe is said to have enough for 3 cars. You apply it sparingly and then wait a minute or so for it to self level and then flash and then level out the high spots. If you don't deal with the high spots you they will look bad and need to be polished out. Having some nice bright white light is the best way to see them, if you just look at the paint you will not see anything as its clear, when it flashes it has a rainbow like color.
Before
after pressure washing.
My Fubar, wet sanding.
After FG400
In the right light you can still see the blemishs somewhat but this part of the tractor is usually hidden and not in direct light anyways.
After opti-coat
Cleaned up the inside too with some 1Z cockpit. Don't have a before picture though.
Anybody have any good tips on cleaning touch screens? I use sprayway glass cleaner which meets the criteria of what Fendt wants you to clean it with but the issue I am having seems to actually be peoples fingers abrading the matte finish away. Where people touch most often it is very shiny and the sun glares off of it at times. I'd like to put a screen protector for a tablet on it but I want to address this issue first if possible. I'm thinking there isn't a way to restore the matte finish though.
Anybody have any good tips on cleaning touch screens? I use sprayway glass cleaner which meets the criteria of what Fendt wants you to clean it with but the issue I am having seems to actually be peoples fingers abrading the matte finish away. Where people touch most often it is very shiny and the sun glares off of it at times. I'd like to put a screen protector for a tablet on it but I want to address this issue first if possible. I'm thinking there isn't a way to restore the matte finish though.
Opti Coat is working great. Washed it today and the road grime came off effortlessly on the coated panels and the water sheeted off leaving minimal beading behind and no sheet of ice like the uncoated panels that did not shed the water as easily.
Here's a beading picture.
Here's a beading picture.
