In search of Prairie Gold 1?The Holy Grail of MM Paints

UB-ToMMy

Member
My Quest.
Awhile back I inquired about Prairie Gold 1 paint on this forum in the hopes of getting useful input on what people had done previously for PG1 paint. The answers were less than I had hoped for.

My objective was to find 'correct' paint for a UDLX. I started by going to the most definitive source there is for MM paint: the MMCI paint committee and their published results. I started by buying a can of the resolved upon AIC Sherwin Williams color for PG1 in acrylic enamel. I prefer acrylic urethane but it hadn't been mixed in that blend at the time. I sprayed some color samples and, frankly, I did not care for the color. To me it looked way too muddy?only my personal opinion though. However, not to take anything away from the MMCI paint committee (under the leadership of Dave Ritenburgh, the committee has devoted a tremendous amount of time and effort to create standardized, procurable MM paints?an enormous accomplishment with brobdingnagian implications that benefits all MM tractor restorers & repainters?thanks MMCI), I decided to look further and try to come up with a color amenable to me. One thing I learned early on was to view the paint colors outdoors. I have 6000K lights in my shop and they change the perceived color completely.

I began by contacting Jerry Erickson who had UDLX S/N 2. He said he had the paint codes someplace but didn't know where. I left my name and number without expecting a return call. However, he did call back a week or so later?a Monday night. I, foolishly, never returned his call until the following Thursday night (just don't monitor my calls that well). On the Thursday night he said he was too sick to talk but he'd call back Saturday. I told I'd call him on Saturday which I did and Sunday and Monday too. No answer. Tuesday morning I did a google search on Jerry and to my horror found that he'd passed away the previous Saturday?an unfortunate and terrible loss for the whole MM community as well as family. However, I was able to get the paint codes for Jerry's tractor from the person who painted it. I purchased a can of the paint, sprayed some color samples and decided that, although it is a beautiful color, it was just too yellow for me and with not enough of a hint of orange in it.

I had paint matched to the original paint on the underside of the hood mixed by my local PPG dealer. That was a mistake. Oddly the paint came out with a definite olive green cast. The under hood paint probably suffered from not just age but heat exposure as well. As an aside, the PPG paint type that I prefer is DCC Concept which is a single stage urethane. I was pleased to find that the paint used on Jerry Erickson's tractor was also DCC Concept.

I researched more on the web and found various references to PG1 paint and bought sample quantities and sprayed color chips. The pic below shows most of them and my impression of them follows below.

In the end, I decided to mix paint myself using amounts from the various color samples I had purchased. I came up with what I thought was a good color?not too much orange but some, and a color that also matched relatively closely an original color found on the inside of the wheel wells of my tractor. That's an odd place to get an original color from but it turned out to be the best example I had. There were other good but not large examples on the transmission cover and the steering column.

I took a color chip of my resolved upon color to my local PPG dealer to get it matched. The lady said, "you might take a look at these color chips (a whole stack) to give us a starting point". I did and to my surprise came up with a color that was a dead ringer for what I had mixed. I bought a small quantity and painted up some color chips just to make sure. It looked good. However, it is definitely brighter than the original paint?not as muddy.

I then went to my local powder coater and was surprised to find that there was a particular powder coat color that was nearly a dead match to the PPG paint that I had selected. For expediency, I like to have most of the removable parts powder coated. I overspray them later so that everything matches perfectly and ages similarly. It's probably a more expensive approach but it saves a lot of time.

The paints that I finally resolved upon are:
1) Spray paint: PPG Concept DCC, Brand Code: 82882, Navistar School Bus Yellow
2) Powder Coat: Cardinal Industrial Finishes, Brand Code: T009-YL71, Color: 90% Gloss Yellow, Type: TGIC Polyester Gloss Smooth Exterior Durable

To be clear, I am not recommending these paints for PG1. I personally like the paints and have resolved upon them for my tractor but they are by no means a suggested standard and no part of the above story should be construed as me trying to define a new standard for PG1. It's simply a story of how I arrived at a selection for PG1 for my tractor.

Here is a summary of the various paints that I tried. Comments are from left to right.

1. Prairie Gold 2?AIC Sherwin Williams acrylic urethane as defined by the MMCI paint committee
2. Prairie Gold 1?AIC Sherwin Williams acrylic enamel as defined by the MMCI paint committee
3. PPG Concept DCC 82882 Navistar School Bus Yellow?the resolved upon paint for my UDLX
4. PPG Concept DCC 83453 as used on the Jerry Erickson S/N 2 UDLX
5. PPG Delstar 60098?too orange for my preference
6. PPG DCC Concept special mix matched to under hood original paint of my UDLX?Ugh!!! Looks olive green
7. NAPA Prism 3749?a cross from Crossfire, aka prairie gold 94948?way too orange
8. Nason Full-Thane 2K, Color Gold, Formula: 621614?supposedly a cross from Dupont Dulux 006?way too orange
9. School Bus Yellow?Plastikote T-29 over the counter rattle can

Be apprised that the color representations shown in the pix may not be exactly the same as viewing the actual color chip (or the tractor) due to variations in lighting, paint substrate, and camera settings (and the fact that it's a digital pic and not the real thing).
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UB ToMMy

I am interested in using your chip you made for your UDLX. I would like to use your chips for #2 and #3 so I can get a color match here locally. I have painted a lot of old cast iron in the past with a Diamond Vogel Pinnacle Series Paint with great results. I painted over 20 years ago a 1918 28 HP Minneapolis Steam Traction Engine with that brand of paint and it is still holding up today with more heat and abuse than most MM's ever get. The steam engine gets hot steam cleaned every year, with only minor touch up the paint had performed great.

So I would like to get my local Diamond Vogel shop the chip to match it.

I work for a local Highway Department and all our road paint is Diamond Vogel, if the snow plows and Minnesota weather cant destroy it, I feel its a good paint. That is why I stick with it.

Thanks!



 
Kirbsterbbg: Very interested in what you posted. Back in the 40 s it is my understanding that MM painted A lot of the industrial tractors State Highway colors. Sort of a dark burnt orange. I have one of them. And I remember seeing them at state fairs. My question is this. Is the present shade of color that they are using today the same as it was in 1948?? I also think Diamond Vogel was used at that tome.
MMDEL
 
Funny you mentioned the equipment colors, at the county shop we have buckets from the old burnt orange equipment paint from the 40's and 50's
I think the cans are labeled as Diamond Vogel. All the buckets are empty of course.

 
Thanks for the reply. My question was is the color the state is using today the same shade as the 40 s and 50 s??
MMDEL
 
I am sorry I didn't answer you with the first reply, I wanted to go back and look at the buckets, all the buckets at the county shop are dated 1958 thru 1972. The color on the pail is labeled as "Transportation Safety Orange #3"

Our Mechanic, who has been at the highway department since the dawn of time (40 plus years), said he did not know if that is the correct match for the equipment. He did mention that we had several Minneapolis Moline Tractors for doing ditch mowing in the mid to late 60's, but he said they were never painted orange. He also noted the paint in the pails was for painting the dump boxes on the snow plow trucks, usually applied after all the salting and sanding was done in the spring.

Today each county is allowed to paint their trucks and equipment any color they want, in 1973-74 our fleet of Plow Trucks went to a color close to PG#3 or safety yellow.



 

Good news! with lots of help from Dave on the paint committee, and Ron Jones from Equipment Color, I have a paint supplier.

To make a long story short, I asked Ron at Equipment color if another Sherwin Williams store could mix the paint. To my surprise he said the could.

My Paint store is a Sherwin Williams Corporate Automotive Finishes Store and they Mix AIC paints.

I will remind all of you that not all SW stores mix AIC and Not all SW Auto Finish Stores Mix AIC. and not all Sherwin William stores are corporate stores.

The Key is They must be able to mix AIC and They must be a corporate Store, very very important. My store is only 26 miles away! No Shipping charges!

I picked up the paint last night, shot 3 chips

One Cherry Red, One PG #1 and One PG #2

I made the chips 24 inches square of 16 Gauge sheet metal primed with Diamond Vogel Pinnacle Series Cote All Primer (brown) as a base. I shot the paint with a traditional siphon sprayer with the recommendation from SW at 55 PSI and suggested added reducer.

I am waiting for a sunny day to take the paint samples out in the sun and see how they look. In the Paint booth they look great!



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