Exhaust Opinions!

[Charlie Smith 142]

Best thing to do is keep the original aswell...

Charlie.

[JackC 616]

Original for me.  

If god wanted wheel horses to have stacks they would have come with stacks.

I give the wheel horse designers credit for creating some of the best looking machines out there and I would stick with the original designs.

[artfull dodger 329]

I also prefer the OEM set up, espicaly the nelson barrel mufflers with the left side exit or the horizontal style on the later horses. Stacks are nice, rain caps will spit and sputter black carbon water on your nice paint job when the muffler is cold, so you will have clean up at every show after running the horse from the truck/trailer to your space.  You also need to properly brace the stack so its not putting stress on the block casting.  If your cooking the paint from the stock muffler, then its possilbe your carb or timing is off causing a lean running condition. I friend had this issue plus vapor locking on his Briggs powered 25th aniversery model WH, carb was lean and while it ran fine, it would overheat causing heat related paint and carb issues.  Stacks with rain caps are cool looking, for about 5 min when mowing, the rain caps rattle and will drive you nuts, the exhaust in the face gets real old as well.  But you said it just for show, so its up to you, its your tractor in the end.  Just hang on to that factory muffler, they are pricey to buy anymore and you might get tired of the stack and want to return to as built.  Great looking tractors, neat to see the overseas versions.   Mike

[Charlie Smith 142]

Oh yes thank you for your input.. I'm still keeping the original as I'm never happy lol. So would switch and change...

Charlie.

[can whlvr 991]

go for the straight pipe so it will burn off that jd green paint

[scWHhauler 96]

I have stacks and corme tips on all my tractors including my surban the cool factor is just off the hook.

[Volfandt 7]

I tried a stack on my 856 but grew tired of the smell and taste of exhaust. Went back w/a late model OEM side discharge and like it much better.

 

[artfull dodger 329]

Volfandt, thats the kind of exhaust I think is the best, that late style horizontal muffler with the forward facing output turnout.  Nice tone to the exhaust and your not riding into a exhaust cloud.  I assume you mow with yours since I see a deck under it.  For a show only tractor, stacks are fine unless one is going for OEM look.  For mowing and worker duty, you have the best solution other than the ones that had the factory nelson muffler in the nose that exited low on the left side.   Mike

[Volfandt 7]

Mike, you are right, my 856 is a worker. Although not as much as it used to be, it has more specialized duties now.. I do like the later model muffler much much better over anything else I've tried, including the OEM dashpot.

I liked it so much that I found another used one on ebay and installed it on my sicklebar mower 876

I liked the looks and sound of the stack but in my case it wasn't practical. 

Heres a pic of my 856 quite a few yrs ago, back when it was full time worker and before I restored it. The muffler setup actually worked pretty well and didn't seem to hinder the performance. It was much better than the OEM dashpot