Will Jury-Rig JD 430 Exhaust Cause Back Pressure Problems?

[Suburban Plowboy]

Because the muffler tore off my John Deere 430, I am about to put a different exhaust on it. The old muffler and exhaust pipe are 1.5" in diameter. I am putting a 1.5" stainless pipe on it, with a 4"-long baffle inside. I'm hoping the baffle will reduce the noise a little. I don't know if it will be loud, but it doesn't really matter where I live. It was loud with the old muffler. Seems to sound the same now, with the pipe open, as it always did.

Here is my question: do I have to worry about the baffle jacking up the back pressure to a point where it causes engine problems? Once it's in there, I would have to do some grinding and new welding to get rid of it.

Today someone told me these mufflers tear off because Yanmars shake so much at idle. He claims a JD bulletin went out, telling people not to let these tractors run at the factory idle speed, because of the shaking problem. Of course, they did not send this bulletin to me; just to the dealership I never go to. Thought I'd pass the information on. I don't know whether it's okay to engage the mower deck at the higher speed.

 

[beenthere]

Don't see a reason to let one sit and idle.. rather than just turn it off.

But bringing the engine down to an idle long enough to engage the mower deck and then return to mowing rpm's doesn't sound like it would present any problem.

Or am I missing something??

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I don't let it sit at idle, but hundreds of starting cycles shake it a lot. This was especially true before I bypassed the seat switch.

 

[redman135]

Can you fit a flexi exhaust pipe at the engine going to a fixed position muffler like on large trucks?

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Search me. I put a short pipe from the exhaust pipe out under the frame. It weighs about 10% of what the old muffler weighs, so I don't expect it to strain anything.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

For what it's worth, the tractor runs very well with the new exhaust. No overheating. I have no idea whether that means everything is okay. The new stuff is welded together with the baffle inside, so I am stuck with it unless I want to do some tedious metal surgery.

The tractor still requires hearing protection, but it sounds much better than it did with a destroyed OEM muffler. I am now aware of other fun noises the tractor makes, which used to be masked by the roar of the exhaust.

I may try to fab up some kind of bracket to give the new exhaust a little more support.

Unfortunately, the grill fell off while I was testing the muffler, and I ran over it. Now I have a new repair job.

 

[buickanddeere]

Because the muffler tore off my John Deere 430, I am about to put a different exhaust on it. The old muffler and exhaust pipe are 1.5" in diameter. I am putting a 1.5" stainless pipe on it, with a 4"-long baffle inside. I'm hoping the baffle will reduce the noise a little. I don't know if it will be loud, but it doesn't really matter where I live. It was loud with the old muffler. Seems to sound the same now, with the pipe open, as it always did.

Here is my question: do I have to worry about the baffle jacking up the back pressure to a point where it causes engine problems? Once it's in there, I would have to do some grinding and new welding to get rid of it.

Today someone told me these mufflers tear off because Yanmars shake so much at idle. He claims a JD bulletin went out, telling people not to let these tractors run at the factory idle speed, because of the shaking problem. Of course, they did not send this bulletin to me; just to the dealership I never go to. Thought I'd pass the information on. I don't know whether it's okay to engage the mower deck at the higher speed.

Use the proper oval muffler from the JD Dealer . No fuss, no muss, looks right instead of some farmer fix and will not deafen the operator as quickly .

 

[Kish318420]

And go with SS tubing with a JD muffler. That is what one person did on another forum for their 430.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I didn't go with the factory muffler because, like some other JD products, it is grotesquely overpriced at $256 (compare to $45 for a name-brand muffler for a car with a big V8). It is also very heavy, and it is a known weak point. My muffler damaged other things when it tore off from normal operation after fewer than 750 hours, so replacing it could involve a lot of expense and work on top of the cost of the muffler itself. All this, to get another muffler which is known to be badly designed and likely to fall off.

I have been informed that JD put out a bulletin saying the 430's Yanmar engine idles too slowly. At the original idle speed, it breaks things because it shakes. I bought my tractor from a man who had the local dealer service it regularly, and they never increased the idle speed, so now my muffler is scrap. I am planning to adjust the idle speed myself. I was told to break a safety wire, and that would give me access. This info should be useful info for other people who own this model.

It's ironic that the same dealer who failed to pay attention to the service bulletin is the one who would expect me to pay him to replace the muffler. His failure to look after the previous owner discouraged me from taking the tractor to him, so now I am relying on myself, and this will cost the dealer more down the road. I was thinking of taking the tractor to him and paying him for routine maintenance, but that's not happening now.

The new exhaust is doing great, and people I have asked for advice say the baffle isn't big enough to hurt the tractor, so I'm very happy. I just removed the dead JD battery and replaced it with an Autocraft, and now I have to remove the JD oil and filter and replace them with Mobil products which were available closer to my house.

A new grill costs $750 on the web. Totally reasonable for a product that costs maybe $30 to make and stock.

 

[buickanddeere]

430 mower instead of a 430 Dubuque two cylinder gasser ?