OP
Red Horse
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- Dec 12, 2010
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- 1,155
- Location
- Bolton, MA
- Tractor
- Deere 655ZTrak, Deere 4720 Cab, 400 X LT 155
S'throw-thx-pix are worth a thousand words!
Converting 4000 series to vertical exhaust
- Thread starter Red Horse
- Start date
- Views: 20716
RolandW
Bronze Member
Did you use JD part number LVB25765? What size hole saw is needed? I just bought a 4320, and the exhaust fumes are making me sick. I've spent lots of hours on old tractors with leaky vertical mufflers, but this is worse! Thank you.
OP
Red Horse
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2010
- Messages
- 1,155
- Location
- Bolton, MA
- Tractor
- Deere 655ZTrak, Deere 4720 Cab, 400 X LT 155
Not sure on part no-file in barn and I'm in middle of Fair. Bottom line it is a piece of cake
RolandW
Bronze Member
Thanks. I just ordered it and the rep said it takes a 3.6" hole. I don't know of any hole saws that size but the hood material looks like it should be easy to cut so I don't anticipate any problems.
tomd999
Platinum Member
Hiya,
Lenox makes a 3-5/8ths inch hole saw, that would be 3.625
Tom
Lenox makes a 3-5/8ths inch hole saw, that would be 3.625
Tom
cobracnvt
Bronze Member
I was looking at this for my 3320. Is there something that allows rain water to drain out? I assume rain gets in there when the tractor is parked outside and not running.
RolandW
Bronze Member
Thanks Tom. Yes, I suspected that 3-5/8" might be close enough, so while waiting for the kit to arrive I poked around online and found the saw you mentioned. My local Lowes is supposed to have it, so I'm planning on checking it out tomorrow. I think I have an arbor that will fit it.
I received the kit, and the instructions actually specify 92mm, with the inch equivalent of 3.6 in parentheses. If my math is correct, if you go to three decimal places, 92mm is 3.622", so I'm sure 3-5/8" will be fine.
BTW, the exhaust kit looks great. If I can get past the anxiety of hacking that big ol' hole in my gazillion-dollar hood I think this will be a fun project.
beenthere
Super Star Member
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- Aug 16, 2001
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- Southern Wisconsin, USA
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- JD_4x2_Gator, JD_4300, JD_425, JD_455 AWS, added JD_455, JD_110, JD_X485(sold)
Please post pics of the switch. Interested here, and sure others are as well. tks
RolandW
Bronze Member
No, I don't see any provision for drainage. I've always assumed that the purpose of the curve at the end of pipes like this (aside from directing the exhaust out to the side or back) is to minimize the amount of rain that can get in there. If your machine will be sitting outside a lot and you're concerned about it, I suppose you could cut the end off square and install a raincap. And there's always the low-tech solution used by farmers for a hundred years: coffee can.
RolandW
Bronze Member
I finished installing the LVB25765 kit yesterday. I was most concerned about cutting the hole in the hood, but that turned out not to be the hardest part. I will try to post pictures when I get a rainy day. I know there are other threads with information about this conversion, so if you are considering it be sure to search and look at those. For now, a few tips and notes from my experience. The project took about one full day (!):
- If you have a front-end loader on the tractor, take it off before attempting the installation. It will make it much easier to get to things, especially if you encounter problems and have to remove and reinstall the lower pipe multiple times as I did.
- A 3-5/8" hole saw sounds like the perfect tool for the required surgery on the hood, but it might not be. The teeth tend to grab in the soft plastic, making it hard to get a nice smooth hole. The curvature of the hood surface doesn't help either. Unless you are skilled at using such a tool in thin, soft materials, you might be better off drilling a start hole and sawing it out with a narrow keyhole saw or something. That way you can take your time and whittle away at it slowly. The rubber grommet will hide any minor imperfections.
- Don't assume that the hole marked on the inside of the hood for your tractor model will line up perfectly. For mine, the right spot would have been somewhere between the "3x20" and "4x20" markings. I'm not sure what would be a better way to locate the hole. Perhaps cut an undersize hole first in the place indicated by the markings just big enough for the pipe to fit through, then install the lower pipe (making sure that it is in its final position and perfectly vertical), close the hood, mark the correct circumference for the 3-5/8" hole, and finish sawing it out with a keyhole saw?
- I own machine tools, so I had the means to mill a slot in the lower pipe bracket (comes with just a hole) to get things to line up correctly. If you don't have the experience and tools to do things like this, you might want to just have this installed by your dealer.
- The lower pipe was an extremely tight fit on the front end of the muffler. I cleaned the paint off with a die grinder and abrasive ball, but it was still very hard to get on and off. Do muffler shops have some sort of hand tool for expanding a female connector like this? It was a pain to work with.
- The exhaust pipe clamp that comes with the kit is too small. I've read this complaint about this kit before. Not a problem; just use the old clamp.
My installation turned out OK in the end, but it was quite exasperating. The pipe is still not centered perfectly in the hole. If the hood surface were flat and level it would be obvious to the eye that the pipe is a bit off-center, but with the angle and curvature of the hood I'm sure I'm the only one who will ever notice.
I bought my kit from shopgreendealer.com. Total cost with shipping was $362.75. Excellent service! They are in the neighboring state of Illinois, so I received it via UPS Ground the day after ordering. My Deere dealer had quoted $400 for the parts and $200-$300 for installation. When I was struggling with the installation I was thinking it might have been worth it to just have them do it, but they said they had never installed one, so I wonder whether they wouldn't have taken the time to get it right and I might not have been satisfied with their work. I can be hard to please sometimes, especially when I've just spent a small fortune on a new piece of equipment.
If anybody has questions, I'll try my best to answer. Bottom line is that this thing might be easy to install and it might not, depending on how things line up on your tractor and how picky you are.
For now I'm looking forward to using this fabulous green machine without constant exhaust in my face!
- If you have a front-end loader on the tractor, take it off before attempting the installation. It will make it much easier to get to things, especially if you encounter problems and have to remove and reinstall the lower pipe multiple times as I did.
- A 3-5/8" hole saw sounds like the perfect tool for the required surgery on the hood, but it might not be. The teeth tend to grab in the soft plastic, making it hard to get a nice smooth hole. The curvature of the hood surface doesn't help either. Unless you are skilled at using such a tool in thin, soft materials, you might be better off drilling a start hole and sawing it out with a narrow keyhole saw or something. That way you can take your time and whittle away at it slowly. The rubber grommet will hide any minor imperfections.
- Don't assume that the hole marked on the inside of the hood for your tractor model will line up perfectly. For mine, the right spot would have been somewhere between the "3x20" and "4x20" markings. I'm not sure what would be a better way to locate the hole. Perhaps cut an undersize hole first in the place indicated by the markings just big enough for the pipe to fit through, then install the lower pipe (making sure that it is in its final position and perfectly vertical), close the hood, mark the correct circumference for the 3-5/8" hole, and finish sawing it out with a keyhole saw?
- I own machine tools, so I had the means to mill a slot in the lower pipe bracket (comes with just a hole) to get things to line up correctly. If you don't have the experience and tools to do things like this, you might want to just have this installed by your dealer.
- The lower pipe was an extremely tight fit on the front end of the muffler. I cleaned the paint off with a die grinder and abrasive ball, but it was still very hard to get on and off. Do muffler shops have some sort of hand tool for expanding a female connector like this? It was a pain to work with.
- The exhaust pipe clamp that comes with the kit is too small. I've read this complaint about this kit before. Not a problem; just use the old clamp.
My installation turned out OK in the end, but it was quite exasperating. The pipe is still not centered perfectly in the hole. If the hood surface were flat and level it would be obvious to the eye that the pipe is a bit off-center, but with the angle and curvature of the hood I'm sure I'm the only one who will ever notice.
I bought my kit from shopgreendealer.com. Total cost with shipping was $362.75. Excellent service! They are in the neighboring state of Illinois, so I received it via UPS Ground the day after ordering. My Deere dealer had quoted $400 for the parts and $200-$300 for installation. When I was struggling with the installation I was thinking it might have been worth it to just have them do it, but they said they had never installed one, so I wonder whether they wouldn't have taken the time to get it right and I might not have been satisfied with their work. I can be hard to please sometimes, especially when I've just spent a small fortune on a new piece of equipment.
If anybody has questions, I'll try my best to answer. Bottom line is that this thing might be easy to install and it might not, depending on how things line up on your tractor and how picky you are.
For now I'm looking forward to using this fabulous green machine without constant exhaust in my face!
