hey,
i was very proud of a "muffler" i made for my 7 hp kohler troy-bilt roto
tiller. what a crappy muffler it used to have, rusted out in no time,
replaced it and rusted out again, quickly. it then became just a short
empty tin can with louver slots cut in it. finally got SICK of the NOISE
and having the exhaust fumes blowing directly in my FACE when i was tilling.
cut a mounting flange out of 1/2" steel plate (the oblong thing with the big
hole for the exhaust and two 1/4" holes on both sides for bolts to go
through) and carefully prepared a expended (hand held style) propane tank
(threw it into a huge bon-fire) (and quickly walked far away). welded an
elbow from the flange to the propane tank, then another elbow to a 9 inch
long extension to route the exhaust down and forward below the wheels and
out toward the front. terminated the exhaust pipe with multiple 1/2" holes
through the side of the pipe in an attempt to "break up" the exhaust gases
and noise and direct the fumes forward instead of straight down into the
dirt. the propane tank has no baffles inside, and i don't think it needs
any but prolly would (with further effort) be even quieter with baffles. it
made the tiller go from NOISY to darn near quiet. i was concerned it might
affect the performance of the engine or harm it in some way but i think any
reduction in performance is negligible. a lot of work though. for me it
was worth it. i'm still pleased with that muffler every time i use the
tiller. looks cool too.

b.w.



"David R. Birch" wrote in message
...
I have an old lawn tractor that I want to make quieter. It has a single
cylinder Briggs & Stratton 8hp engine that has a muffler that doesn't
muffle. I replaced that one with one for a 9-16hp B&S engine, but it didn't
get any quieter. These seem to do nothing except provide back pressure.

Anyone have a design for a muffler that will make it possible to talk with
the engine running without shouting?

David