I would really like my mower to be quieter. I know there would still be noise from the spinning blades, belts, pulleys, etc., but when I asked my neighborhood handyman about putting a “meaningful” muffler on my riding mower he gave me a rambling explanation about how it couldn’t be done because of back pressure and fuel mixture and it wasn’t designed that way and other stuff that went far over my non-mechanical head.
I know in much of Europe home noisemakers like lawn mowers and even dishwashers and vacuum cleaners are much quieter than in the US; seems they have anti-noise regulations requiring it, but here the companies choose to save a couple of bucks by not putting in the sound deadening material or better muffler or whatever … but I won’t go on that rant.
So, anybody have any ideas? Is it possible to find some sort of more effective muffler than the one that comes standard on my John Deere? Or is it really impossible because it wasn’t designed that way?
It might be possible to put a “super trapp” style muffler on the mower, but it will not be easy, straightforward or cheap.
I put one of theseon a generator that was painfully loud, and $160 later plus a bunch of labor to re-work the engine’s exhaust piping and heat shields to fit the thing in, the generator was merely annoyingly loud. It did mellow out the tone - it’s not as piercing and “nasal” now, but it is still loud.
It may not fit your mower at all - the thing is almost a foot long overall, and about as big around as a 2-liter pop bottle.
This will be the crux of the problem. A ‘meaningful’ muffler will be too large to mount directly to the motor.
You can go down to your local auto parts store and buy a small muffler and rig mounting brackets and tubing to attach it to your mower. It’ll look strange as all get out, but it will be quieter.
Be prepared for strange looks when you go to buy the muffler, but don’t let it dissuade you.
A substantial portion - maybe most - of the noise from that type of engine is the mechanical noise of the engine itself. Just quieting the exhaust is unlikely to yield satisfying results.
I have an automotive muffler for my generator. One end has an adaptor piece that fits over the stock muffler snuggly. This welded to a 3 foot length of flexible exhaust pipe, that is welded to the muffler. From 10 feet away you can barely hear the generator, from 30 feet away the only noise is the air being drawn in through the air filter. I can just lay it on the ground next to the generator, attaching something like this to a lawnmower could be a challenge.
Interesting replies … all the way from you can do it but it won’t help very much to I did it and it helped a little to I did it and it works great … hmmm
I am finding some info now thanks to the links you guys provided … even finding stuff like “quiet mufflers for Briggs & Stratton” but not for engines this big … mine is 17.5 HP … but there do appear to be other options.
The pre-made ‘quiet muffler’ kits I’m seeing all seem to fit a pretty wide range of engine sizes; anybody have any knowledge of the back pressure problem my local Mr Fixit was talking about? Or could I really weld most anything on there if I don’t care about looks, only results?
I really really don’t care how it looks … I’d strap a motorcycle muffler along the side or put a diesel-type stack sticking in the air or wrap an old VW bug muffler around to the back if I could stand to ride the thing without earmuffs.
If you use the thought process behind the cite I posted you could leave your original muffler on and build a quiet one around it, thus eliminating any changes in back pressure (the larger muffler would not add pressure).
Not really following you, Magiver, about building a muffler around the existing one; afraid my mechanical knowledge and ability is near zero. I did find your link fascinating and inspiring and I’ll get out to the shed tomorrow to look things over to see if I can follow what that guy did … his use of the word “quest” is exactly the way I’m feeling about this.
I know for a fact that lawn equipment and household appliances are much much quieter in England, so it can be done, I just don’t (yet) know how … this mystifying talk about back pressure has me concerned.
Another point … there is plenty of room under the hood for some sort of sound deadening material. Is that what the stuff is under the hood of a car or is that heat insulation?
This cite showed how a guy had a piece of muffler pipe welded to a standard plumbing fitting and then he simply clamped a regular car muffler on. I was suggesting you do the same thing but leave the original muffler in place. So it would be a threaded extension, a coupler with a muffler pipe adapter welded to it and then the original mower muffler screwed into the coupler (plumber fitting).
Ultimately you would be welding an adapter behind the muffler that would allow a sleeve of exhaust pipe to go over the muffler.
Note that if the mower is a two-stroke engine (the kind you have to mix gasoline and oil together) the performance is stongly dependent upon proper muffler geometry. This may be what your mower man had in mind.