Rust oleum paint 7435402 john deere green. Old or new green?

HI i recently recieved 2 gallons of john deere gloss green part # 7435402 for FREE. Hoping this paint will be good enough for my 70 jd pulling tractor?? Should i put hardener in it and what kind and how much?? What kind of thinner would work best and how much? How is this paint for fading is it as bad as valspar? Any other tips on using would be great. What primer works the best, the can recommends rust oleum? If it is the lighter green for the new tractors should i take in and get it darker, what colors would i get added and how much and what is compatible with this paint? Would like it to be darker green if possible. Or just use it?

2 gallons should be enough paint to paint the tractor. I would use the hardener. It will make the paint perform like the old lead based paint. I don't know which hardener you talking about. Valspar makes a hardener that you would use 8 oz per gallon. If you are going to spray the paint, these hardeners contain isocyanides which can hurt you even if you wear a respirator. The respirator will only reduce the exposure. Use the paint in a well ventilated area and hold your breath when you are downwind from the vapors. If you are going to brush the paint, use the paint without thinning or if needed use mineral spirits. If you are going to spray the paint use naphtha and only barely enough to get it through the gun. I'm not familiar with the JD paint so I can't comment on the durability. As much work as it is to paint a tractor I would use a 2k urethane like Nason Ful-Thane or PPG Concept and save the JD paint for implements.

I don't know how much difference there is between the two greens. I would say to darken it to mix black and maybe green to it. The easiest way to alter the color would be to get quarts of the same type of paint and intermix it. Try it out in teaspoon quantities first to see what the color looks like before altering the paint. If it works get a clean 5 gallon bucket and mix both gallons at once. Be sure you paint a sample to keep. That way for touch up you can have someone computer match some more paint.

The paint is Rust oleum BRAND. It says if thinning use mineral spirits. Is Naptha the same just dries faster? The color looks good i compared it to martin senoir on my G, looks good. It also says for best results use rust oleum primer, is there any other primer i can use if i cant find that brand? What brand hardener should i use? Some say only to put hardener on last coat when all done. True?

When paint is sprayed, it needs to be thin enough to go through the gun. An alkyd dries so slow it invites runs so the naphtha is used as the thinner because the paint will dry a little faster and is not as prone to run. Usually what I try to do is spray the paint with thinning it at all. Today many paints are watered down and you can spray it right out of the can. It's always better to not to thin it more than necessary to spray it.

Well they say it's better to use the Rustoleum primer because they’re selling primer. Any new metal is better primed with epoxy primer. The epoxy primer will provide a barrier to rust that no other primer will provide. Other primers will allow metal to rust underneath the paint. Often you can see painted metal with rust bleeding right through the paint. This won't happen with epoxy. One thing I forgot to mention is epoxy primers have a recoat window, which means you have to topcoat within usually 72 hours or it has to be scuffed or re-primed. Also epoxy primer is not a sandable primer. If you need to sand and level the finish you will need a filler primer over the top to work it. I use Evercoat Featherfil for that purpose. It's a fiberglass filler that smells like bondo.

I can't really help you on brand of hardener.
I only have access to the Valspar hardener for an alkyd. It is available at Tractor Supply Stores. I've asked for it at Sherwin Williams and they said they didn't have any. Perhaps the clerk didn't know his business, I just haven't asked again.

Thanks. So mineral spirits and naptha are chemically the same except naptha dries faster? Naptha won't chemically ruin the paint?

Mineral spirits and naphtha are two different chemicals however both are compatable with the Rustoleum paint. You can use either one. You just need to be a little more careful with runs using mineral spirits than naphtha.

So i will not have any trouble if i use Naptha? I should try to shoot with out thinning first. How do i know if i should use thinner or naptha? How much psi should i use while spraying with a top canister spray gun? Do you work for rust oleum or just used it in the past?

Worker at rust oleum said to spray a coat in 15-20 min intervals 3-4 coats in a hour. or top coat at 48 hrs. works better if you dont wait 48 hrs do it in less than an hour. Thanks for your help. jm

If you put the paint in the gun and little or no paint comes out you will know it needs to be thinned. For a gravity feed gun you would probably use it at about 60-70 pounds. I don't have any connection with rustoleum. I'm a professional furniture refinisher. I do use rustoleum paint from time to time.

I can't find anything to support the idea of spraying the paint in 15-20 minute intervals. I looked online for a data sheet and couldn't find one. The only thing I could find is a handling sheet which said what I thought all along that it was just an alkyd enamel. You might look on the can for drying times but if it were me I would not put more than one coat on in a 24 hour period. I think if you would put 3 or 4 coats on in an hour most of it would run off onto the ground. I don't know if you're old enough to remember but the paint is very similar to enamel house paint.