I have a lawn tractor that is quite loud. I have looked into replacing the muffler, and the only thing I can find is a small box that is useless in quieting the engine. Does anyone have a suggestion about where I can find a better muffler, make a muffler out of something or somehow make this thing more tolerable to operate?

 

Have you shopped any of your Tractor Supply type stores? Theissen's, TSC, Big Bear, Farm and Fleet? Most of those have a "lawn mower" section, that has supplies for smaller lawn tractors, and regular mowers.

 

You can use a muffler for a small car. Only thing you would have to worry about is the flange to mount it to the engine.

 

most manufacturers make a "quiet" muffler, depending on your motor brand and how much room you have, you may be able to use one of those. they do help. also most mufflers that bolt on say a briggs motor, when you take them off, you may also have threads inside the exhaust port so you will be able to use a different style muffler than was original.

 

well, it is a Kohler motor and there are threads inside the exhaust port. I will see if i can find some sort of muffler that may be quieter from a TSC type store, If not, I may try a small car muffler. What is the best way to attach something like this? Extra space is not a problem as the sides of the motor are open.

 

If the threads are in the exhaust port, they are standard 3/4" pipe thread. You can use just about any combination of fittings and nipples to put any muffler on it you want.
Tom

 

http://www.mfgsupply.com/SmEngKohlerMufflers.html
http://www.tulsaenginewarehouse.com/...cv11-16pillow/

the bottom one has alot of mufflers, link to them in the middle of the page

 

Another option.

 

Ed, I've thought about that, have some, but the rest of the family still doesnt like it........

 

Check your local power equipment dealer. Kohler actually offers a quiet model for most of their larger engines.


http://kohler.findlocation.com/resul...x?page=engines

 

One thing of note for these small air cooled engines is that a lot of the noise comes from places other than the exhaust, particularly the side valved engines. There's no water jacket to absorb vibration and sound, and the heads aren't all that thick or heavy. Usually (Not sure about Kohler) the entire engines are aluminum. The blower covers/housings are usually thin sheet metal too which can add to the 'tinny' sound and make things seem even louder..

But if it is indeed your exhaust, good luck in finding a solution to it!

 

Just be careful that you support any "additional" muffler weight with a bracket of some sort. Those threads are in aluminum and see alot of heat so they don't last long with a bunch of weight vibrating around in them. Screwed up the port on a Briggs on an air compressor one time and found it was much harder to fix the resulting problem than it would have been to prevent to start with.

 

how long have these engines been aluminum?

 

since the 50s or 60s kholer was acctually the last one to switch, they had cast motors for years after briggs and tecumseh went to aluminum, onan also was cast iron for a long time.

 

Someone makes this muffler silencer for the 4wheelers (ATV) and maybe you can get that and fab it up to the mower