PT-425 muffler and seed spreader

[JD-Beach]

Idabe, Thanks for the kind words. The garage floor is epoxy. I had it done a few years back in order to use the garage for my daughter's graduation party. I'm delighted with the outcome. It sweeps up nice and mops up nice with a little water. I really never cleaned the floor before I had this epoxy installed. It has caused me to keep it cleaner.

I used the PT about a month back to install a sand fence on the beach (photos in a previous thread). The sand cleans off easy with an electric blower. It tracks some sand into the garage sometimes but it sweeps out easy. I've not yet been in the mud with the PT so it never really gets too dirty. I'm a little concerned that the sand is going to get into critical places and cause some grief, so I try to stay on top of it.

Hogi, The new muffler is quieter. I only started it up for a few minutes to check it out cause it was getting late. I'll take it out later today after church and hopefully see the real difference. I'll stress it a little to see if the performance changed. The instructions said to install one ring per seven horsepower. That's 3.5 rings. I only put in three rings because they come in packages of three for $20.00. I thought that that would be close enough. ... we'll see, huh? If the exhaust is too restricted then I'll buy another package of rings.

 

[Marks481]

Nice conversions. I have one of those mufflers (with three rings) sitting in my garage waiting for me to weld it up. I intended to put a 90 degree elbow on it, and make the muffler point straight up. I bought it mostly because I think the square pipe with the 90 degree turns in the engine compartment is too restrictive and heats up the engine compartment too much, and I intended to weld something up with smoother corners to try to get more of the heat out. As long as I was going to replace the engine header, I might as well replace the muffler with something a little more elegant/effective. I also considered going the double muffler route to minimize exhaust header length in the engine compartment. What would that be, 1 ring per muffler?

How close is the edge of your muffler to the PT engine canopy? I was wondering how far to space the muffler away from the engine canopy to avoiding blowing hot exhaust fumes into the engine compartment or to avoide buring the paint off of the mesh.

 

[JD-Beach]

Tim, It's approx 2" from the grille of the canopy. I had it out running today. It's quieter than before, but still remains pretty loud.

 

[J_J]

Tim, It's approx 2" from the grille of the canopy. I had it out running today. It's quieter than before, but still remains pretty loud.

I thought I would mention something that I remember from many years ago. The frequency of the sound coming out of a pipe, is dictated by the diameter of the pipe. Large outlet. lower sound frequency. These kids and some adults like that roar out of a large tail pipe. That's why you see little 4 bangers with 4 in muffler tailpipes, makes a big racket.

You can get the same hp with much less noise by drilling many small holes in a plate to cover the end of the tail pipe. If you drill enough holes to match the same area of the open tail pipe, I think you will have less noise. For instance, on a 5 hp small engine, that had a fire arresting plate on the muffler, it was fairly quit for a small engine, but eventually, it rusted out and the noise became louder to the point of being hearing impaired. As soon as I installed another fire arresting plate, the sound was back to normal.

Something to try if you have the time. Let me know if you were successful in achieving a lower noise level.

 

[ponytug]

HomeDepot has a good price on the Rustoleum epoxy kits. The epoxy kits come in a couple of quality levels, basically on how many coats of epoxy you put down. (1,2, or 3)
If you get the material from other suppliers, you can get colors other than brown or gray.

Be warned that you need concrete that stays dry; if you are in an area with a high water table, or where the soil periodically gets wet, the water will lift the epoxy off the floor. You also need to get the floor really clean, which usually involves chemically cleaning it and then sanding it with a coarse sander. Some of the epoxies are designed to flow and level floors, which can greatly improve the look of an imperfect cement job. There are a bunch of companies around that will come and trick out a floor for you, but hold on to your wallet. (And yes for lots of $$s you can overcome the high water table issues, but it won't be cheap!)

Personally, I love epoxy floor look. (Nice job JD-Beach!)

All the best,

Peter

Idabe, Thanks for the kind words. The garage floor is epoxy. I had it done a few years back in order to use the garage for my daughter's graduation party. I'm delighted with the outcome. It sweeps up nice and mops up nice with a little water. I really never cleaned the floor before I had this epoxy installed. It has caused me to keep it cleaner.

I used the PT about a month back to install a sand fence on the beach (photos in a previous thread). The sand cleans off easy with an electric blower. It tracks some sand into the garage sometimes but it sweeps out easy. I've not yet been in the mud with the PT so it never really gets too dirty. I'm a little concerned that the sand is going to get into critical places and cause some grief, so I try to stay on top of it.

Hogi, The new muffler is quieter. I only started it up for a few minutes to check it out cause it was getting late. I'll take it out later today after church and hopefully see the real difference. I'll stress it a little to see if the performance changed. The instructions said to install one ring per seven horsepower. That's 3.5 rings. I only put in three rings because they come in packages of three for $20.00. I thought that that would be close enough. ... we'll see, huh? If the exhaust is too restricted then I'll buy another package of rings.

 

[JD-Beach]

Peter, you're absolutely correct. ... water in the concrete will make a mess of a floor finish. That happened at my last house. When we built this house I knew that I'd want a finished floor so I had the contractor put a vapor barrier beneath the concrete prior to the pour.

JJ, thanks for the insight on the muffler, frequency, and diameter. When it warms up outside I'll get a little more time on the tractor and hopefully be satisfied with the sound. Some day I'd like to buy you a beer and chat with you. You impress me as being full of interesting knowledge.

 

[J_J]

Peter, you're absolutely correct. ... water in the concrete will make a mess of a floor finish. That happened at my last house. When we built this house I knew that I'd want a finished floor so I had the contractor put a vapor barrier beneath the concrete prior to the pour.

JJ, thanks for the insight on the muffler, frequency, and diameter. When it warms up outside I'll get a little more time on the tractor and hopefully be satisfied with the sound. Some day I'd like to buy you a beer and chat with you. You impress me as being full of interesting knowledge.

Many thanks my friend. I was in the Navy, stationed at NAS Norfolk, VA for about 4 years in the early sixties. I lived in a beach house on Ocean View Ave.

In my 68 years come Feb, I hope that I have learned something. I did waste a lot of my early years, but you know what, I am still learning, but running out of room to store stuff in my brain. I wish I could get rid of some of that useless garbage that I picked up along the way.

 

[MossRoad]

I wish I could get rid of some of that useless garbage that I picked up along the way.

Give it to me. I'll hold on to it for a couple decades, then pass it to the next kid!

 

[cqaigy2]

Give it to me. I'll hold on to it for a couple decades, then pass it to the next kid!

youre a funny guy.

 

[MossRoad]

youre a funny guy.

I had the honor to work with some fine older gentlemen for two years when I first started at my job 21 years ago. Unfortunately for me, there was a company wide buyout, and, of course, they took it. The brain drain was immense. Those guys taught me so much in so little time, and then they were gone. I still see them from time-to-time. They are now physically old but mentally happy. Still alert, interested in new technology and wanting to learn it all. 70 and 80 year old guys learning welding, DVD creation, photoshop, HDTV. They all have camera phones and mp3 players. They are still just kids inside... the same way I want to be in 30-40 years.