Stop the Noise

[MadMike]

The Nelson muffler on my 2012 is more or less a hollow can now so I've been looking for inexpensive ways to quiet the tractor down. I remember the posts about the Super Trapp and that it didn't do much. Last night I installed an IH-1 stack muffler per the "Do it Yourself" section and it didn't help as much as I had hoped, for the price it wasn't bad though. I've been wondering, has anyone ever installed an actual automotive style muffler on a single cylinder Briggs? Would this cause too much back pressure? Mike

[D-17_Dave]

A muffler is designed to match the engine air flow with the capacity of the muffler. I don't think adding a muffler rated for the flow of a 4 cyl. would hurt anything. However, the weight factor would be tremendous on the threads of the exhuast manifold. I've seen people break the side of the block off with to much piping going to some homemade mufflers.

[SmilinSam]

When building Exaust systems its very important to design a brace or bracket setup to carry the weight of the muffler on anything more elaborate than a simple screw on type like used on the Old B series AC's. Like Dave indicated, I too have seen many a good engine pretty much junked from having the block damaged from the weight of carrying a exaust system unsupported.

[MadMike]

Thanks for the advice on supporting the muffler, I had planned to make a bracket of some type. What I'm really interested in is anyone who may have come up with something that quiets these old Briggs down some. Who knows, maybe my hearing is just getting more sensitive.

[tec2484]

I once had a gen/welder with a 12hp briggs on it. I put a muffler from a motor home gen on it. I ran a lot quiter but about half the time it would pop real loud when you shut it off.

[carbuff713]

Gasoline golf carts are quiet -- does anyone what kined of muffers they use?

[BLT]

True exhaust silencing is NOT a simple process. And one good exhaust sound to one is not the perceived sound by another. You just can't go to your local farm store, look at a muffler and say "yep, this will do it". And if it did sound nice to you, it was a stroke of luck. There are two silencers made for Simplicity tractors that I really consider a notch or two above the rest. They are the one used on the 5010 and 11 HP vertical Briggs engine and the 7116 and Briggs 16 HP horizontal. In both cases you hear more mechanical noise then exhaust noise. I haven't looked up prices, but I would venture to guess that one or the other will set you back at least $80-$100. Do you want to cut the grass and listen to you MP3 player, that's one value or do you want to just buck up and cut the grass, that's another value. And I also dropped $55.00 for the screw in Nelson muffler for my 3112 tractor and I can say that I was less then impressed. But on the other hand I work with engines from 600 HP to 3200HP and their raw exhaust noise is pretty impressive. Looking at that, and keeping things in perspective, my 16HP with the Nelson then doesn't sound to bad.

[MadMike]

Last night before I mowed, I did a little test. With the IH-1 stack muffler installed, I started my tractor and brought the throttle up to about half, I then put my old worn out Nelson can on top of the stack and held it in place. There was quite a noticable drop in noise level. This leads me to believe a lot of the noise reduction may be from pipe length, or accumulator space I guess you could say. Just a thought...

[2burning]

Another idea to think about is making your own glasspack: http://www.ihcubcadet.com/killerkohler/KILLER%20KOHLER%20Part%20II.pdf

[MrSteele]

The homebuilt tractor my father put together included a bracket for a Powerglide Chevy muffler. The ZZ engine was so quiet you could almost whisper standing next to it at full throttle. That muffler was replaced in later years by a glass pack due to cost considerations. It was louder, even had the traditional glass pack rumble, as if a V-8 might be running, instead of a 9 HP Briggs. I either run a straight pipe, confused only by a 90 degree ell, which seems quieter than a straight pipe, or use a Pinto muffler with great success.

[ehertzfeld]

[img]/club2/attach/ehertzfeld/comp.jpg[/img] This is what I use on my compressor in my service truck. I on a 13hp Kohler "that I hate:(!" and it's still too loud! But in the places that I work out of, noise isn't a problem:D The pipe that goes out of the bottom on the muffler, exits the truck through a hole in the floor. I'm not sure I would want a muffler that big hanging off one of my Briggs. Elon

[ehertzfeld]

Oh if I remember right, we got the muffler from Napa. It's just a generic auto muffler. I don't think it's for any one brand. I think it costs around $20 or so. I can ask my boss if any one really wants to know. Elon

[BLT]

Elon, a bit of advice. You need to have some sort of flexible piece between engine and muffler. Right now from what I can see, you are on a crash course of breaking out the exhaust port of the engine. With the air compressor shaking one way and the engine shaking another way, the weak point becomes the engine exahust port. With a flexible exhaust joint long enough(12 inched maybe), this will minimize the chance.

[ehertzfeld]

BLT, the hole exhaust is on rubber mounts as well as the whole compressor. It's been in this truck, like this for over two years. Actually, we have used this set up for over ten years with great success. A few times I remember the ports breaking, but I believe they had some solid mounts on the exhaust system. Elon

[RayS]

Earplugs are the only thing that will bring the decibel level down significantly and more than likely should be worn any way. I know that the safety director where I work is a pain, but he is right.

[patrician12]

I use the cub cadet type mufflers that stens and everyone else sells.I think it is very important to have a quiet muffler.You can hear more important noises like deck bearings,idler pullies etc.I like quiet.Blt is right the Briggs 16 of mine is very quiet but it is rather large and I believe that is why.

[Brent_Baumer]

I am the one who wasted well over $100 on the SuperTrapp. I have also tried the IH-1. I have also tried a JD 210 muffer (my dad's 210 deere is soooo much quieter than my Sims and AC's). I have also tried simple $5 "cans". NONE OF THESE WORK WELL. In looking at the oh so quiet JD 210 and other deeres I noticed the Kohler was a K241QS. The Q stands for quiet I believe. The Kohlers I have in my AC's don't have the Q. I do not know the difference but I have come to the conclusions you cannot quiet these tractors down significantly. I have even tested all these set-ups with a real sound meter. Some do work better than others but NONE OF THEM WORK WELL. Brent

[RBE17]

My JD STX46 has a "Q" Kohler Command in it. I still wear earplugs while cutting the grass. I actually wear earplugs whenever I use any of my lawn equipment. Later, Steve.

[bobj]

Thought you guys might get a kick out of this. I made an exhaust system for my T-16 Homelite - Simplicity look alike. This is how we used to make systems back in the '60s. I was hard pressed to find automotive 1.25" pipes up front so I used sink drain pipes from Home Depot. Wanted small pipes up front because of close proximity to front PTO. The remaining pipes used were 1.5" from NAPA parts store. Biggest challenge was fabricating donut or packing gasket from 1.5" automotive to 1.25" for sink drain pipe connection. I chose to do it this way to make the system serviceable/removable. The main reason I did the system was because the engine burns oil quite a bit and the smoke was in my face. Making it quieter was a close second. This machine is currently being used to mow about 10,000 square feet of grass at work. The deck is 48" and keeps my mow time down to 20-30 minutes. Paid $250.00 for the machine last summer, it's very clean, plan to rebuild the engine this winter. I also have a 3314 I am fixing up for my son. I do this stuff at work between working on cars. I have to say it's very quiet and the exhaust/oil smoke is where it belongs - in the back. Bob J.

[RedbarnRick]

This is just my opinion but I find that the Kawasaki mufflers are real quiet as compared to nelson

[mhaubner]

Nice job on the tailpipe exhaust system. We used to put a turndown at the end to quite it down further. (striaght pipes on trucks) seemed to keep the neighbors a little quiter about the noise. A chrome one would look nice to finish off that exhaust.

[bobj]

Good idea, mhaubner, I just put some chrome turn down tips on that black '75 Corvette in the background. Bob J.

[Roy]

Neat work. First Simplicity I've seen with a tailpipe.

[ZippoVarga]

This is what I did to signifigantly quiet my 9hp 23D. Skot71 even commented when he visited, "Man, that's quiet!!" [img]/club2/attach/zippovarga/LLExhaust8.JPG[/img] It's a 1 1/2 inch inlet/exhaust Stanley muffler and although I cannot listen to my MP3 player with it, I can hear anything going on around me MUCH better than with any other exhaust i've tried. My daughters enjoy riding around the yard and the LL was the only tractor that was able to sneak up on me while on another tractor. The others were noticeably louder. Engines ranging in HP ratings from 6-12 were out there....5 in all. I was impressed with how quiet it was in comparison to my other tractors.

[HubbardRA]

I never did finish my experimentation on mufflers. I worked up a swirl design muffler. It has a very smooth sound with less popping than the stock muffler at the high rpms, but sounds like a straight pipe at idle. I have worked up a drawing of the second generation of this design,which I hope will be quieter, but have not had the time recently to build one and try it.