Tractor deck protection

Still a few months from end of mowing season, but I'm looking ahead.

What can I do during the off-season to help protect the deck that's older than I am?

My grandfather used to strip, paint, then oil his deck during the winter. That's seems a little much, and I don't like the idea of oily grass cuttings. 

But should I do more than take it off, grease the zerks, and hose it down?

SLIP Plate Mower Guard seems popular. You scrape the deck clean then give it a coating. I need to do the same thing this winter on my lawn tractor.

I don't know if it counts as "protection" or not, but I really, really like the Deck Dolly for standing the deck up and getting it out of the way for storage. 
 

They don't exactly give them away, but you might be able to fab something similar-- though I'm not sure you'd be much less into it unless your time counts for nothing and you've got scrap laying around to build it out of. 
 

When standing my shaft driven mower decks up for storage, I have found that one leaks the gear oil out the breather, the other doesn't. Regardless gear oil level is checked and refilled when they come out of storage. 

In reply to slefain :

Amazon and fastenal say it's not available, their website doesn't have anything about it at all, but Napa online says they might be able to get me a can, while no stores nearby carry it. 

I'll have to look for alternative graphite lubes. 

I just mowed this morning, while the grass was still wet, and had a ridiculous amount of clumping considering my blades have only been used once, which got me thinking of some kind of coating. 

I usually use compressed air and a brush to clean mine then I use rust check undercoating in an aerosol to coat it. 
a coat of paint on the bare metal probably wouldn't go amis. 

I just try not to mow when the grass is damp, pull the deck 2x a year and scrape it, grease it, and sharpen the blades.

Are you mulching and how high are you set?  Also the garden hose connectors on the JD E/D series lawn mowers actually help loosen the goo up....still have to pull the deck out and SCRAPE/PWASH

At the end of the season I pressure wash and blow down all my outdoor power equipment, change the oil if required, gas them up with sta-bil, and give them a once-over on belts, fasteners, and whatnot.  

For the mower I sharpen the blades and hit the underside of the deck with whatever rattlecan I have close by just to prevent flash rust on the bare surfaces.

I wonder how well Por-15 wold work on a tractor deck.

759NRNG said:

Are you mulching and how high are you set?  Also the garden hose connectors on the JD E/D series lawn mowers actually help loosen the goo up....still have to pull the deck out and SCRAPE/PWASH

Set about 2 inches high. This particular mow as the first dry day in weeks, so it was expected to be rougher, by I cut twice, once at 4 then again around 2.

I'm basically setup half an inch above chunking dirt. 

My usual end of season maintenance is park everything in the garage, then fire it up again in the spring. It's served me well for 20+ years. I'm just concerned with this deck being 45 years old and cub cadet not making more of them. 

I mean, I wonder how it would do to rhino line a deck, but I have a feeling smooth finish for non-stick is key.