Tractor Exhaust

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I have a compact tractor which sits outside year round, and the part which seems to rot off first is the $300 exhaust system.  In 30 years, I have replaced it probably 5 or 6 times.  Every year or so, it comes off for a repainting with barbeque grill paint.  That only marginally helps.At one time, armed with only oxy-acetylene, I was going to silver solder up a stainless exhaust.  The concept of silver soldering was poo-poohed by everyone who would hear the dream.Today I have a new multiprocess machine, which means I could MIG or TIG an exhaust.  There are a few impediments, such learning to MIG and TIG, but even though I have the worlds worst and most inexperienced welding teacher (me), I  am confident that someday I will be able to weld an exhaust.  Ha, I have even thought of trying steel piping, and making a practice muffler, and replacing it with SS next year.So here are the questions: How reasonable is this project, and does anyone have some general guidance?  As an aside, I an digging out my college texts on acoustics so that I can make a muffler which has peak acoustic absorption at the PTO RPM of the tractor.  But from this group, I am really looking for fab guidance.For supplies, I am thinking tubing, and one bent "U" from which I can cut the bends I need.
Reply:Stainless is a bit to set up for purge. We must evacuate the air on the back side with argon. Professionals each have their ways of back purging. You need two tanks of argon, or one with a double regulator. It'll cost as much as a new system to set up to do one. MIG was not a success for me, I've not been successful with the Solar Flux for back purge. TIG with components ordered online from a header builder would be my choice.An optimist is usually wrong, and when the unexpected happens is unprepared. A pessimist is usually right, when wrong, is delighted, and well prepared.
Reply:just build it out of copper tubing and silver solder it...you can get all the fittings and pipe from a plumbing supply..cheap and easy, long lasting...Of all the things I lost I miss my mind the most...I know just enough about everything to be dangerous......You cant cure stupid..only kill it...
Reply:I maintain a 'fleet' of 3 compact tractors and a 1965 Minneapolis-Moline Big Mo 500.As far I am concerned, the exhaust systems are considered a 'wearing part', along with coolant, brakes and tires. They are part of the cost of operating these things. Like fuel, oil and filters. Once you start pumping hot exhaust gasses through the stainless steel pipe and then expose the outside to weather, it will corrode too. Yes, it will last longer than mild steel. Order up some pre-bent pipe sections and a muffler from the hotrod catalogs. Read up on TIG and back purging. Then build your own custom exhaust system. And watch it rot and fail in 6 years (rather than 4). Add up what the stainless cost vs. mild steel and consider the value of your new skill. Then, only you can decide if it was worth it.Be wary of The Numbers: Figures don't lie,. but liars can figure.Welders:2008 Lincoln 140 GMAW&FCAW2012 HF 165 'toy' GTAW&SMAW1970's Cobbled together O/A
Reply:If the muffler rots out try drilling a 1/8" hole in the lowest part of it so the moisture can drain out. I do that to all my vehicles and it definitely extends muffler life.                                       MikeOl' Stonebreaker  "Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"Hobart G-213 portableMiller 175 migMiller thunderbolt ac/dc stick Victor O/A setupMakita chop saw
Reply:What about stainless and a stick welder with 3/32" 309L electrode?  I did this to an outdoor wood stove chimney I made.  Still going strong after 3 years.  It appears to to just have a slower corrosion rate than the mild steel ones I've made.Lincoln Power Mig 216Lincoln AC/DC-225/125Miller  625 X-Treme PlasmaMiller 211 Forney 95FI-A 301HF 91110Victor Journeyman O/PMilwaukee DaytonMakita  Baileigh NRA Life Member
Reply:Originally Posted by SuperArcWhat about stainless and a stick welder with 3/32" 309L electrode?  I did this to an outdoor wood stove chimney I made.  Still going strong after 3 years.  It appears to to just have a slower corrosion rate than the mild steel ones I've made.
Reply:I made a stainless steel muffler for my Miller Trailblazer w/ a 4-cyl. Continental gas engine. I rolled up a piece of 14 ga. for the muffler body tube, and used some 14 ga. s.s. tube for the inlet / outlet.I didn't back purge anything, and just tig welded it all together. Now...it wasn't the quietest muffler on the face of the earth, because I kind of guessed at fabricating the innerds, but it never broke, and was on the welder for many years, up until the time that I sold it.RichLast edited by steelsurgeon; 10-09-2015 at 02:28 PM.
Reply:What about thicker walled mild steel? The life/cost ratio might be better than stainless.My "collection":Homemade Stick WelderVictor O/A TorchAC 225Ideal Arc 250HF 90 Amp Flux CoreHF Mig 170Solar 2020 Plasma CutterPower i-Mig 140EHarris O/A torchHF Dual Mig 131140STAlpha Tig 200x
Reply:Just replace the entire pipe with stock steel tubing. Then send it to JETHOT and have it aluminum coated. done. http://www.jet-hot.com/enthusiasts/Miller 211Hypertherm PM 451961 Lincoln Idealarc 250HTP 221  True Wisdom only comes from Pain.
Reply:L Originally Posted by mike837goUnquestionably stainless steel corrodes slower than mild steel. But is the expense of the more 'exotic' alloy plus the cost (time, effort, supplies) of custom fabrication worth it over buying the stock (mild steel) part?For my money on my stuff, I'll run with aftermarket copies of the OEM parts.
Reply:I suspect the sulfur in diesel fuel is reacting with condensed water in exhaust to make sulfuric acid. I do know exhaust lasts longer if heated hot. My wife works a mile from home, In the days before SS exhaust, her car needed a new exhaust every year. Others with similar cars who drove several miles to work would get several years from an exhaust system.An optimist is usually wrong, and when the unexpected happens is unprepared. A pessimist is usually right, when wrong, is delighted, and well prepared.
Reply:Forget figuring out the rocket science acoustics of an optimal muffler. That little diesel (assumed) needs to breathe.  You could grab some sch 40 pipe and fittings, forget the purge, mig weld 'er up and don't forget the cool flapper on top. Now you have the last exhaust you'll ever put on it before the rest of the tractor rots and 8t sounds and looks like a real big boy tractor!Funny how I'm probably going to TIG up a stainless exhaust fot my compact tractor this winter myself. I'm going to put on a turbo and the stock muffler is tucked in pretty tight to the head under my hood and exhausts out the bottom front. My 9 year old son keeps telling me we need to "make the pipe go out the top and put on a flappy thing." (Like my neighbor farmer's huge tractors that cost more   my house) Turbo/header where the stock muffler/manifold is, a small stainless straight through muffler and a flapper on top. Then I'll need to put some flames on the hood!Sent from my SCH-I605 using TapatalkRyanMiller Multimatic 200 tig/spool gun/wireless remoteMillermatic 350P, Bernard/XR Python gunsMiller Dynasty 350, Coolmate 3.5 & wireless remoteCK WF1 TIG wire feederMiller Spectrum 375 XtremeOptrel e684Miller Digital EliteMiller Weld-Mask
Reply:Just put a plastic bucket on top of itSent from my C811 4G using TapatalkVantage 300 kubota ,miller 304 xmt ,lincoln ln 25 pro , ranger 305 G, plenty of other tools of the trade to make the sparks fly.
Reply:I don't believe that the mufflers I have had had rotten from within.  Most of the degradation is external, and sometimes on the joints.  Additionally, I have generally had problems with the aftermarket mufflers in that they are considerably noisier than the OEM muffler (like 20 db or so, which is a lot), and also they tend to be poor fits.  Often the aftermarket muffler spends it's life occasionally rubbing against the loader.  Generally rain water is not a problem either with a cap, or with a curved front.  I prefer the later.  Thanks for reminding me about the purge.  Actually, I am ready.  I have a small supply (a couple of dozen) R-33-FM regulators from cleaning out someone's old stock.  They work great with CO2, nitrogen and argon.  And I have some extra tanks of all of that.  So no additional costs there.I figured I could cut up my materials, and then practice nearly identical welds on the scraps.  Obviously I am not trying to avoid work.  I am trying to learn, and fabricate a 10 year muffler.
Reply:May the force be with you.An optimist is usually wrong, and when the unexpected happens is unprepared. A pessimist is usually right, when wrong, is delighted, and well prepared.