Possible danger of tractor side exhaust

[kthompson]

I have noticed a big difference in smoke depending on brand of fuel. With local discount brands I have a lot of smoke. I now buy Shell or BP and only get a small puff when the tractor first starts.

I was amazed how many post on this before yours on the fuel differences.

I don't use a lot of diesel per a year but know I can tell some difference with different fuels. I have CUT with side and down exhaust, no fel but no issue to me. Have vertical exhaust and no issue there either but yes must watch for it getting damaged and yes limbs hitting me. Family had a gas with under the seat and to the back exhaust. Boy that worked great, well other than when hooking up something or using setter with two operators on it setting plants.
Question for you fel loaders people with side exhaust, just wondering are those fel the brand of the tractor or aftermarket units? Just wondering if the brand takes the exhaust into consideration.

 

[oldpilgrim]

Question for you fel loaders people with side exhaust, just wondering are those fel the brand of the tractor or aftermarket units? Just wondering if the brand takes the exhaust into consideration.

mine is original mfg equipment, branded by Mahindra but made in USA

 

[ovrszd]

Question for you fel loaders people with side exhaust, just wondering are those fel the brand of the tractor or aftermarket units? Just wondering if the brand takes the exhaust into consideration.

No.

 

[arrow]

It looks pretty good now, as shown in the pic. I ran it for a couple hours this afternoon, never shut it off and when I put it away, I could still easily touch the pipe! It hardly gets hot. With that low temp, I don't think it will rust much.

BTW, still didn't notice any fume issues and the exhaust stays clear of the fel arms.

I think that's a major key for our tractors Pilgrim. When i start mine with the fel down, there is simply a congregation of smoke all around the front of the tractor. The exhaust is bouncing off the fel. The other day, the cold kept the fel from sinking and I started the tractor with it raised slightly.Smoke clearly made a rush to the side and forcibly pushed away. For two years I've been traveling through the woods with the fel more downward to fend of stick ups and such. The whole time I've been driving through the exhaust. Most of the time I'm using Sunoco and Stanadyne fuel additive. Could have been a confluence of conditions that effected me.

I studied the exhaust the other day in my initial attempts to re-route it vertically. It's too daunting as I would have to punch a hole through the sheet metal and the tractor is just too new for me not to care to do that.
What you did is at least a viable alternative.

 

[oldpilgrim]

I am pleased that the exhaust blows completely away from the tractor now.

In your case, it could also be that the additives are affecting you. Who knows what's in that stuff.

I use Howes. Try that and see if it makes a difference... along with a tail pipe deflector.

I'm thinking of putting a red jewel in the end of the pipe like I used to have on my '59 Chevy tailpipe deflector

sorta like this:

 

[tman1020]

I am pleased that the exhaust blows completely away from the tractor now. In your case, it could also be that the additives are affecting you. Who knows what's in that stuff. I use Howes. Try that and see if it makes a difference... along with a tail pipe deflector. I'm thinking of putting a red jewel in the end of the pipe like I used to have on my '59 Chevy tailpipe deflector sorta like this:

Yeah I think that galvanized exhaust tip makes it look like a hot rod of tractors. I like it.

I do think when the exhaust bounces off of the front loader it does increase the potential to have it come back into the driver area. Good thinking Old pilgrim.

 

[Burrawang]

By arrow "Exhaust is sound. If you think about it, exhaust on a vertical stack is shot higher onto the air and above your head and to the side. The side exhaust is just the opposite. Tractor always has the propensity of moving toward the exhaust which is at ground level. I think manufacturers should have maintained the choice they once gave consumers of having either with a mere switch and turn of the mounting plate. These newer tractors seem to have favoured style above choice functionality and in my mind and health and welfare of the consumer.
As someone stated, you may not smell it but that does not mean you're not breathing it in. This is the kind of thing that causes a cumulative effect which may go unnoticed for years."

I have a Kubota L4600D that has the diesel exhaust pipe outlet at knee height, pointing forwards just over the left front axle. I have a Kubota LA714 front end loader fitted but that has no effect because it is well clear of the exhaust outlet even when it has the 4 in 1 bucket sitting flat on the ground. The problem that I have been experiencing for the last 500 hours is that I am continually driving into the noxious, carcinogenic diesel exhaust particulate emission stream when I am slashing grass, driving using the bucket or box blading forwards. The exhaust gases are obviously hot and so they immediately rise and at the rotary slasher recommended 540 rpm, the ground speed is perfect to be right in the middle of the hot, gases. Must admit it feels good when I'm in a T-shirt in winter, because it is warm but when I pick my nose at night after a day on the L4600, I excavate jet black gunk from my nostrils, so that means that a fair bit has also gone down into my lungs. Lung Cancer is not the way I want to die. My dear father died from emphysema from smoking tobacco; he didn't want to smoke but was ordered to during WW2 when he was posted in England as a pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Air crew were issued and ordered to smoke between flights to calm their nerves. So you could say I am careful about what I put into my lungs. I have contacted Kubota in Australia about this and they have wiped their hands of any responsibility, by simply saying that the Kubota Tractors with the forward pointing low front exhaust outlets meet or exceed regulations in Australia. I am wondering if the tests they meet or exceed are more about the chemical composition of the gases rather than the physical location of the exhaust outlet in relation to the position of the operators nostrils when driving forward, or maybe they have some mates working for VW, anything is possible these days. My tractor is tuned correctly, it only blows one little puff off black smoke on start up and a small amount when under a lot of load. The gases that I am breathing in are invisible unless you drive at night where they are clearly visible in the headlights streaming straight to my head area. The old timers designed the vertical exhaust stack for a very good reason, it works! Why some genius has decided to dispense with common sense and locate the diesel exhaust outlet in a position that puts the operators respiratory health at risk is beyond me.
I�f it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

[ultrarunner]

I prefer rear exhaust but seldom and option on modern tractors.

This is why I wear a respirator for any work more than a few minutes... the respirator does a very good job and when I take if off after a days work my lungs are clear and no allergy problems during allergy season...

My 1953 NAA Jubilee has rear exhaust and the tractor is a pleasure to operate.

 

[Burrawang]

I prefer rear exhaust but seldom and option on modern tractors.

This is why I wear a respirator for any work more than a few minutes... the respirator does a very good job and when I take if off after a days work my lungs are clear and no allergy problems during allergy season...

My 1953 NAA Jubilee has rear exhaust and the tractor is a pleasure to operate.

Hi ultrarunner, yep, my wife reckons that I should wear a respirator too but I find that here in Australia with temperatures often over 40 degrees C (105F) and occasionally over 45 degrees C (113F) it gets a tad uncomfortable with sweat etc, so I just try and keep my head to the right hand side as much as I can to minimise the exhaust gases inhaled. I am going to fit an exhaust extension soon to save my lungs.

 

[ultrarunner]

That would be hot here for sure... no one A/C where I live but 15 minutes inland all have it... it is also 15 to 20 degrees warmer too... so 80 here is pushing 100 there.

I have seem some flex conduit used to redirect exhaust...

The older I get the more sensitive it seems.

Right now with the California fires it is like living inside a smoke house chimney...