Has anyone ever upgraded the muffler on their lawn mower?

[slacktide_bitog]

Do they even make aftermarket mufflers for lawn mowers?

Briggs and Stratton 500 158cc flathead, with that tiny round muffler with holes in it. Is it possible to upgrade the muffler so it's quieter? I think it's just a screw-on 1/2 NPT thread, so anything with that thread should fit, and there are some ebay listings for mufflers like that. Supposedly, Stens is a name brand, but there are other no-name lawn mower mufflers to choose from, too.

They shouldn't be too expensive since they're so small and basic.

At least a cheap muffler would make a nice inexpensive upgrade until I get another lawn mower that is either a Honda engine or a cordless electric

 

[JTK]

I know Napa and CarQuest used to have a bunch of catalog options for OPE mufflers.

Some of them are more expensive than you'd think. Larger OPE exhausts can be 100's of dollars.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

I know Napa and CarQuest used to have a bunch of catalog options for OPE mufflers.

Some of them are more expensive than you'd think. Larger OPE exhausts can be 100's of dollars.

The ones I found on ebay were less than $20

 

[bluesmokertdi]

Do they even make aftermarket mufflers for lawn mowers?

Briggs and Stratton 500 158cc flathead, with that tiny round muffler with holes in it. Is it possible to upgrade the muffler so it's quieter? I think it's just a screw-on 1/2 NPT thread, so anything with that thread should fit, and there are some ebay listings for mufflers like that. Supposedly, Stens is a name brand, but there are other no-name lawn mower mufflers to choose from, too.

They shouldn't be too expensive since they're so small and basic.

At least a cheap muffler would make a nice inexpensive upgrade until I get another lawn mower that is either a Honda engine or a cordless electric

https://www.jackssmallengines.com/Products/BRIGGS-STRATTON/Quiet-Mufflers

 

[carviewsonic]

If inexpensive, a better muffler would be a great upgrade.
I wear earplugs when using my Honda mower. It’s not terribly loud, but loud enough to set my tinnitus off (without earplugs). Earplugs bought in bulk are cheap.

 

[Malo83]

I put a short straight pipe.

 

[ripcord]

I've experimented with putting bigger mufflers on OPE stuff like generators and only found modest improvement. I think a lot of the noise is coming from the case and cylinder and not just from the exhaust.

 

[dwendt44]

Honda generators, at least some of them, are pretty quiet. Would think they could
do that to their mower engines if they wanted to do so.


My 2¢

 

[samven]

A few people have done tests with small generators trying to quiet them down. Putting a more restrictive muffler on them significantly reduced their power. One guy put an automotive muffler on one and built a sound absorbing box with the exhaust outside and determined that the vast majority of the noise was mechanical. He also looked at the Honda and Yamaha quiet generators and found that they use sound insulation around the motor, hence the plastic cases the really quiet ones have.

 

[Lubener]

Too bad they are not like the old Toro's. The muffler was on the bottom of the engine pointing down through the mower deck. The set up was pretty quiet for those old engines.

 

[ET16]

I put a larger muffler on my Wheel Horse tractor.

 

[skyactiv]

The OP wants a cordless mower or something Honda powered in the future, but this is good to know.

Briggs & Stratton does have a line or lawn mower engines that are quieter than the average engine. Not marketed and accepted well unfortunately.

There is a Snapper 21" model with a large 190 CC engine and 8.5 lbs of torque

Quiet Power Technology® | Briggs & Stratton

Ready for the peace that comes with a quiet lawn mower? Find out how the Briggs & Stratton QPT small engine makes it happen and listen for yourself!

www.briggsandstratton.com

 

[CharlieJ]

It's also a lot of intake noise too. My new Toro S/R with 190cc Briggs engine has a different intake / airfilter system that makes this engine a lot quiter then the previous 140cc Briggs that I had.

 

[ragtoplvr]

Find a lawnboy quietflite from the 50's. You hear the blade hitting the grass.

Other than that, cut a hole in the deck. run straight pipe thru hole. Problem solved.

 

[Strokenmerc]

I worked with a guy years ago that was annoyed by the noise of his generator. He tried multiple setups but found there is not much that can be done with the overall noise even if you reduce the exhaust noise. I'm sure this would apply to a lawn mower also.

 

[wayne55]

I did what Ripcord did and put a "better" muffler on a generator and saw very little reduction in noise. Generators may be a different animal than a mower though.

 

[sk_pete]

I've experimented with putting bigger mufflers on OPE stuff like generators and only found modest improvement. I think a lot of the noise is coming from the case and cylinder and not just from the exhaust.

that whole thing vibrating.. makes a big speaker. i guess engine rubber mounts are not very common.
one can cut open the muffler and try to put inside some fiberglass.

 

[CatCam2]

Too bad they are not like the old Toro's. The muffler was on the bottom of the engine pointing down through the mower deck. The set up was pretty quiet for those old engines.

Correct! We had one of those and it was substantially quieter than the current ones.

 

[Mainia]

A few people have done tests with small generators trying to quiet them down. Putting a more restrictive muffler on them significantly reduced their power. One guy put an automotive muffler on one and built a sound absorbing box with the exhaust outside and determined that the vast majority of the noise was mechanical. He also looked at the Honda and Yamaha quiet generators and found that they use sound insulation around the motor, hence the plastic cases the really quiet ones have.

Plus they run the motor at a lower rpm in some cases.

 

[JTK]

My vintage coleman powermate pulse 1750 has what looks like that ~$163 NLA "super low tone muffler" on it per Jacksmallengines. The muffler is worth more than the machine!

It does make the exhaust very quiet, but like said above, the exhaust is only part of the noise.