where did you find the tracks from ?
Ebay. They are meant for a ditchwitch sk500
I bet after this round of snow you are wishing it was complete enough to clear the drive.
I know. I've gotten lazy with shoveling. I do a real half *** job now because I keep hoping I'll have it done soon to plow.
As long as you can't decide, here are two more options:
- If the sound from the stock muffler is acceptable, B&S makes muffler deflector plates that bolt to the stock muffler (using those 4 threaded holes in the face of the muffler). Not knowing the engine model number, this might not be the right one but it is for an Intek engine:
Cut off the appropriate piece of mandrel bent exhaust tubing from this J-bend and weld it to the deflector plate. You'd have the vertical stack you're after and no bulky muffler on the side of the dozer.
Thanks Bob. I definitely liked this idea the best. So that's what I did. Got a piece of tubing from Jegs and a flapper cap from Farm and Fleet and made my own flange.
Sorry, didn't take any close up pictures.
I appreciate everyone's feedback. I really have no clue what I'm doing so I either ask or try it myself. Or both.
So here's what I've found:
I like the stock muffler because it's made for the engine and it's fairly quiet. I also like a stack with a flapper cap pretty much because I think it looks cool.
I did not notice exhaust in my face while riding it today. If it does bother anyone riding it in the future, I can always take it off.
Now for the problems. First and foremost, vibration was too much (frozen ground) for the little sheet metal screws holding my pipe to the muffler. It fell off within minutes.
The next problem is the heat. The one reason why I considered the external muffler was because the stock muffler is close to hydraulic hoses and the fuel tank. I borrowed a friends thermal imaging camera and this is what I saw.
That vertical sliver of heat to the right of the muffler is the fuel tank. I didn't think to look at it from another angle so that is most likely just a reflection of the muffler. I couldn't quite get a shot of the hydraulic hoses underneath but they aren't melted so that's good. If I keep the stock muffler, I think a heat shield would help a lot especially during warmer months.
Just for fun, I took a shot of the pumps.
So I need to figure out a better way of attaching the stack if I chose to keep it. Right now, I need to focus on some other things.