In most climates, I would think that just spending a little more to make the steel decks thicker would extend the deck life beyond where most new mower buyers would benefit significantly. Most of the deck problems seem to be related to the spindles, or to thin metal that rusts easily or gets worn through by abrasion from sandy soils.

What about a magnesium deck? It would be rustproof, lighter, and I believe cheaper than stainless steel. Now if they could make a deck of something that repels grass with no buildup, THAT would be worth paying alot more for!

Stainless sounds great but it is brittle and will eventually crack from fatigue. The average steel deck will last longer if fasteners are kept tight and grass is not allowed to accumulate, trapping moisture which leads to rust.

Too brittle. Thick steel is probably the best.

What type of stainless steel is too brittle. If you take good care of your deck it will last a very long time. I have a 50" deck on my 1976 Dayton GT (MTD 990 tractor) that is not rusted out and that is over 30 years old. The deck is made of a heavy gage steel. Just clean it when it gets build up with grass.

teflon.

Several years ago I was talking to the local welding guy. Some lady had brought him a mower with an aluminum deck (I think a JD). A rock went right up through the deck leaving a 2" inch hole. The lady was asking the welder to patch the hole. He just shook his head.

I have a Gravely walk behind (weighs 450 lbs). After each use I tip the deck up onto a 2' board, then scrape the deck out. Sometimes I wash it off with a hose. No rust after 13 years.

A good 300 series Stainless is almost 3 times the cost of a good commerical structural steel. Because of the toughness of stainless it takes longer to fabricate than carbon steel, also tooling for stainless is more expensive. It seems as though the people on the forum are more worried about Transaxles,and Engines than Decks.

Cleaning off the mower deck after mowing, both the top and bottom, is a good idea. Stainless, I think, would make both easier to do, and would allow the use of some occasional water to wash it without fear of rust.
I like to clean the mower before bringing it into the garage, so this might be more important to me than others who have a shed to park their tractors in. I saw a push mower at Costco with the stainless deck and I have to admit that I liked the look of it as well.
Steve, you forgot to mention the other concern on this forum..the brand name.

A good option to any mower deck preservation is when the deck is new have the underside slick coated with spray on bedliner like Line-X (harder than Rhino liner)

this way the underside of the deck is protected from grass and moisture as well as a protective barrier against rocks and sticks etc.. est cost to do @ $35

would be helpful to pressure wash underside of mower deck and sand with power sander, and remove blade(s) prior to taking to be sprayed - might save you $$ and would save them time in prep work to spray bottom of deck.

I dont think Honda makes a push mower with a SS deck.
howerver I think Murray? MTD? YardMan? brands have been sold with Stainelss decks but with a Honda engine.
Some new Honda mowers have NeXite lifetime warranty decks now..