All That Shines Can Be Golden

Enlarge Image United Rentals' JLG Model 110 SX before Dakota Shine application.

August 4, 2005 — We all know the value of aesthetics in the rental business, but can you really put a price tag on the appearance of your equipment? Some say you can. When I first saw an advertisement for Dakota Shine™, an environmentally friendly product that restores paint economically, I must admit I was a little skeptical. The ad's claims that the product restores paint to like-new conditions for a fraction of the cost of repainting seemed too good to be true. According to Dakota AG Innovations, this product is able to make old equipment look new, and it did so for pennies on the dollar when compared to repainting. If used properly, it would not only restore the paint finish but also would bring back the luster and color of most decals. The company also said Dakota Shine was a derivative of corn and soy, and the EPA certified the product as biodegradable. Now I'm really starting to think this has to be a hoax. Cost effective and environmentally friendly: Can the two really co-exist?

Remembering the old adage, “If it looks or sounds too good to be

Enlarge Image United Rentals' JLG Model 110 SX after Dakota Shine application.

true, it probably is,” I decided to find out just how this product worked. I called the folks from Dakota AG Innovations, LLC, Mitchell, S.D., and offered to give their product a try. If it worked as well as they said it did, everyone that owns or manages a piece of equipment would need to know. I felt so strongly about the results of my own experiment that I decided to alert readers of both our print and online publications. Following is a product review, which ran in the July/August issue of Lift and Access. For even more commentary, read the “It Ain't Snake Oil” column from the June 1 edition of Lift and Access 360. 

 

Application

 

The company sent me a starter kit, which included a demo CD, a simple set of instructions, a couple gallons of the biodegradable solution, and a handful of Scotch-Brite™ pads. My test machine was a 2001 JLG Model 110 SX, owned by United Rentals and stationed in their new aerial lift yard in Tempe, Ariz. Parked next to a couple of new JLG Ultra Booms™, the contrast of old and new was quite pronounced.

  

Enlarge Image A high-volume, low-pressure primer gun helped me do the job just fine.

So how does this stuff work? There are three steps to the process. First, you have to thoroughly clean and degrease the surface — pressure or steam clean with a good degreasing agent works best. Note that you do not need to mask anything, as the product also can revive the gloss of the decals. Second is the surface preparation, which requires Scotch-Brite or similar pads and the Dakota Prep solution. This biodegradable solution attacks and loosens the oxidation, grease, and loose pigments and removes them to prepare the surface. The product pulls foreign and loose material to the surface but does not push them into the pigments. On a faded machine, most of the pigments are generally still there, but everything else has been removed through this process. This actually leads to a duller look than when you started. I was told that after you complete the prep step that the duller the look, the better. Step three is applying the Dakota Shine coat. I used a conventional high-volume, low-pressure (HVLP) primer coat paint gun with a 1.5-m

Enlarge Image Fogging the five-year-old Deutz engine made it look new.

m tip to apply the product. In this step, the Dakota Shine supplies and then re attaches every element that has been removed, lost, or faded out of the surface to the paint pigments that remain. The end result is a fresh, nearly new looking finish.

  

While applying the Dakota Shine, I also discovered many other advantages to using this product. You can fog the engine, and it will come out looking like new. The same goes for tires and hoses. To restore the base, superstructure, tires, and wheels — everything but the boom — it took about two-and-a-half hours and about a gallon of each solution. I estimate that an entire smaller 40-foot boom lift could be done in about two hours with about $80 dollars worth of products.

 

Product longevity

 

All Erection & Crane Rental Corp., Cleveland, Ohio, has been using the product for more than two years. All's purchasing manager Larry Jeppe shared that they have done cranes as large as a 700-ton Manitowoc crawler crane. “This stuff is awesome,” he exclaimed. I asked if the equipment they restored two years ago was holding up, and he responded, “Looks as good now as it did the day we did them.” All Erection & Crane Rental Corp. is regularly using this product on cranes, telehandlers, and aerial work platforms.

 

Unlike some treatments, Dakota Shine is not tacky or sticky once it's dry, and it will not attract and hold dust or dirt. After a night of curing, the finish is as if you had repainted the machine. It is not a coating and will not blow off with a pressure washer or steam cleaner. Dakota Shine is expected to last for the same duration as a new paint finish.

 

Enlarge Image Once completed, the faded four-year-old JLG Model 110 SX (left) looked as good as the new JLG 1350 ultra boom.

What does this mean to the bottom line? It eliminates the need to paint most machines; it rejuvenates the appearance of decals, tires, and engines; and it eliminates the need for paint booths and hazardous chemical handling and clean up. And Dakota Shine does it all in a matter of hours for a fraction of the cost of repainting. While the list of organizations using this product is extensive, I think the most significant has to be Caterpillar. Their dealers are both utilizing and reselling this product under their own label, CAT Paint Revive.

 

Good looking equipment says a lot about your organization, and it also makes it significantly more attractive in auctions and retail sales. Call Dakota AG Innovations at 605-996-7800 and ask them for a starter kit or visit them at http://www.dakotashine.com — it will be the best investment you ever made.

 

What's my final verdict? How could I not be impressed with the results? United Rental's manager Rob Ryan was just as awed as I was, stating, “This is pretty amazing stuff.” If you follow the instructions to the letter, you will be quite pleased. Just one suggestion to achieve a perfect result: Make sure you keep even pressure on the scrubbing pads to prevent any streaking, which is something I didn't always do.