TOPIC: Gator yellow?

Hi All,
I have a Crosby that is sitting on what I believe to be a 59 Gator trailer made with square tubing, not pipe. There are traces of what I have been led to believe is Gator "yellow". Is this true and does anyone have a current paint collor to match the original? Thanks in advance.
Shipster

Would John Deere yellow be close?

The square-tubed Gators started out being yellow but quickly went over to white in the early-sixties. I have a 1955-ish(?) round-tubed Gator that came with a mostly rusted, no-paint-left finish (it appeared to have no primer coat), but we still found an area under a Gator sticker with relatively well-preserved paint... It was a very, very close match to Sunburst Yellow, a stock color:

www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=130&sid=239094

You can split hairs over "original" paint color, however do expect that what you see in fresh paint will change after a few seasons of lake-scum-dipping and sun-baking!

I'll have a look at the color. There are a few stickers on it now that I can hopefully find some decent original traces of the yellow but you are right about lake scum. Thanks.

I'm not sure about Gator yellow but I bought a gallon of yellow that's close to Tee Nee at Ace Hardware: it is sold in spray cans too.

Hi,

Use Safety Yellow, it is available at Menards in MN or WI.

I think it is also available through some hardware stores, comes either by the gallon or spray can.

Dan

The yellow represented in the printed magazine ads is very close to a primary yellow, often called "bright" yellow or the like, but is just ad art and printer's ink. Having five Gators, I've seen some areas of paint not exposed to light. To me, the color is a bit more toward the orange which makes my first choice - "School Bus" or "Transport" Yellow. This color looks more vintage to me. Safety Yellow is a government defined color that is supposed to comply and be consistent across brands - it is very generic and vivid. My favorite brand of paint for trailers is Majic tractor, truck enamel because it is non-toxic when dry in case you're in a state with paint restrictions. Valspar calls Safety Yellow "New John Deere" on the same label. The original version of John Deere Yellow across brands is a yellow that is less vivid and a bit grayer with apparently some black added. Polyurethane looks shiny but very fake. Consult some ACBS judges about urethane before deciding if you plan to show the rig.
Safety Yellow is undoubtedly what people have seen the most and would assume is the proper color. My thinking is that the 1950's version of Transport Yellow (School Bus) is likely what was used at the Gator factory because they were making transport vehicles.

I hope that these color charts will illustrate the discussion. I think there is color tanslation disparity between the samples and how they were digitzed one was originally CYMK and the other RGB. Probably the difference between the new jd yellow samples should be an indication of how color profiles can make comparisons tricky. Most places will acutally open cans and make spot color on index card samples for you when asked.