2011 RTV Muffler

bordercollie said:
Doggman, I got to thinking today of a buzz sound that I did notice when I first got the '11. (I had forgotten about it) I heard this noise that was somewhere between a vibration and a buzz. It was the seat belt mechanism . It will vibrate at a certain pitch when the conditions are just right. I put my hand over on it and that was the sure enough the source of the noise. I will try to think on this and see if I can come up with anything else I have just become accustomed to. bordercollie
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Bordercollie, I have the metal roof (FOPS) and it does squeak when I'm rolling over uneven terrain like a ditch. I haven't tightened the bolts yet but that might help. I seem to remember that the 2005 had some rubber mat or belting material on the underside of the FOPS.
I'll have to check out the seat belts - it never occurred to me that that might be the source of the buzz.
All in all the new trans makes the RTV even more impressive - it pulls like a Willys in 4WD! (I'm still not used to the geared down reverse, though.)
I just bought a new 53 HP Hydro Kubota tractor. There are more bells and whistles on the transmission than I'll ever use. But one of the nice ones is that there is a small dial knob on the panel where you can easily adjust the braking action of the hydro trans. There is also a shuttle type feature on the steering column where you can shift H, M, or L into a fast or slow mode even under load. It's kind of like an overdrive lever and turns the trans into 6 ranges instead of 3. Anyhow, I bet we'll see those types of features incorporated in the RTVs sometime in the future.
 
Sometimes I leave my chainsaw earmuffs on and its wonderfull. Especially when its freezing and i have no windsheild.
 
Doggman, The passenger seat belt catch with the orange button was the source of my "buzz".
Vin, I wear my headset a lot> I have one with the music/ news radio built in and have the warmest ears around and hear whats going on in the world at the same time. :) bordercollie
 
Removed the spark arrestor today, I know why other units have failed! The tailpipe and arrestor assembly seats inside the muffler about 3 inches, removing the arrestor allows the tailpipe to resonate resulting in a fatigue failure of the tailpipe mounting flange. I will be taking mine off again and fabricating a new hollow pipe that should provide the support. After removing I noticed about 20% increase in performance, that screen really adds a lot of back-pressure!
 
Don't cut the length , just dremel some of screen with a cut off wheel . it has the metal strips there on the arrestor that the screen is mounted to( which goes the length and fit into the hole like I mentioned) in #17. I will be cutting one side of the screen at a time.bordercollie.
 
Same problem

Hi, sorry about late reply. I had exactly the same thing happen to my 2007 RTV. Unfortunately I removed the spark arrester by cutting it off and it made the exhaust pipe unbalanced and eventually it snapped in exactly the same way. I don't think it is a problem with the quality or strength of the muffler. I now feel it was definitely a problem caused by removing the spark arrester. However it was replaced under warranty. Once I replaced it with the new muffler and spark arrester no problems. On my new XT I will certainly not be messing around with the muffler. So just be aware that removing the spark arrester may have ther consequences?

Cheers
 
NEW SPARK ARRESTOR

Took a piece of DOM tubing, turning in the lathe and making a new big hole spark arrestor unit. I will post some pictures of my new design. It will slide into the original hole inside the muffler and slide inside the current tailpipe. Will have several hours in this before done.
I have the same motor in my ZD 21 zero-turn and guess what- no spark arrestor, so for those worried about engine damage you can rest.:whistling:
 
bordercollie said:
Don't cut the length , just dremel some of screen with a cut off wheel . it has the metal strips there on the arrestor that the screen is mounted to( which goes the length and fit into the hole like I mentioned) in #17. I will be cutting one side of the screen at a time.bordercollie.
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bordercollies idea will work !!!!!!

moosejaw, you are right, the screen does hold much back pressure. And yes,
your performance will pick up much when one removes the screen.

On my model, the screen was on the very end of the tailpipe. Undo a screw, and it was off. Not a internal arrestor like the new models.....:126:
 
thats what i would do just remove the screen and thats it. why make a whole new piece to fit in there ?
 
Well to tell all the truth, I drilled out the four spot welds in an attempt to just pull off the screen. That dam screen has more welds and attach points, they don't want it to come off! I was a little concerned about warranty, but I also want to reduce noise if possible. My design will help use the back chamber of the muffler and should be quieter. I will keep you posted.
 
Yea, it's on there good, but the cut off wheel will zip through the screen and leave a clean edge . I will start small and maybe make an opening in it about the area of the tailpipe opening and alternate the cut out on the sides so that the strength will still be there leaving all the metal just cutting the screen. Using the bota as much as I do makes taking off the tailpipe and cleaning the thing more than weekly too time consuming. There has got to be a better way for us to " have a factory muffler and not have to modify. bordercollie
 
Back on the muffler subject -- I have been going through my recently acquired 2007 RTV 900 trying to do all the recommended service on it. It has 1308 hours on it and I don't know its maintenance history so I thought I would just do everything. I made a post the other day about my issue with adjusting the valves but I finally got that done, thanks to help from this great forum.

Today, however, I have revisited the issue of cleaning the muffler as recommended in the manual. I previously made a half-hearted attempt to remove the plug in the muffler but gave up fairly quickly. Today, I decided it wasn't going to beat me. I tried a 5.5 mm allen bit in my socket wrench but it didn't seem to fit tightly so I got the 6 mm size and got it in the hole. I put all the torque on it I could get and, dern it, it just stripped out the hole.

So, undaunted, I went to my local NAPA store and got an ease-out, some penetrating oil and some anti-seize compound (I'm optimistic). I got back home and took the entire muffler unit off the machine (not difficult) and went to work on the plug. I soaked it good with penetrating oil and let it sit for a while. Since the hole was stripped I locked some vice grips on the plug to no avail. Then, I got out a torch and heated it up and tried again. I could get pretty good torque on the bolt but it still didn't budge.

Finally I resorted to the ease-out. I drilled the proper size hole all the way through the plug, tapped in the ease-out and used a big crescent wrench to turn it. Was I successful? Hell no! But, I was still determined to win. I got a larger drill bit and just drilled the plug out. Of course that left some metal still in the threads of the hole. I was able to take needle nose pliers and got hold of the rest of it and pulled it out in a spiral, cleaning the threads out. I called that success.

I put the muffler back on the RTV, cranked her up as the manual says do and ran it for 1 minute (or more). Nothing came out of it. I went to all that trouble for nothing. Now I have a plugless muffler. I'll order one, or two, from Messick's and put one back in it soon. I just think I would have been way better off to have just left it alone. What do y'all think?

Incidentally, Bordercollie, I am your neighbor over here in Alabama. Only thang keeping Alabama off the bottom of most lists is that we are fortunate to have Mississippi over there! Just kidding, of course. I lived in Mississippi for a good stretch and I remember guys on a radio station in Jackson having an Alabama Dumbass segment that I always thought was pretty funny.
 
Ah yes Wheezer! I remember that AD segment on talk radio- the Jt and Dave show!! If I remember right, they would play the "deliverance" music to that . :) haha .. I quit listening a while back though and now it's just 94.7 to encourage my day with positive music.
When you put the muffler back on did you torque it? The instructions on my 2011 replacement one said that they should be torqued to specifications in order to prevent cracking after getting hot. On my 05, I would always get a good bit of soot out of it through that plug hole. I think it was a brass plug but would not bet on it.. oh yea Hi neighbor . :) bordercollie .
 
Well, I guess you would have to say that I did NOT torque the muffler bolts. I read somewhere (probably from a post of yours) that the four bolts should be torqued to 30 ft-lbs? I just guessed at it and figured it would be better to have them too loose than too tight. Is that correct?

My plug did not appear to be brass. It had the silver color of steel, I saw when I inspected the slivers and spirals of it that came from drilling and stripping it. I just ordered my two new plugs -- one for now and one for my 2006 RTV if I foul it up too.
 
I'm not sure Wheezer. I would think the main thing would be to have the same "pressure" on each bolt so that the force is even. I learn most ,of what little I know, from my mistakes so I keep learning and learning and... some of my experiences sound alot like your epxerience with the plug in other forms. ;) Good job by the way!! You showed it who was boss in the end. :) bordercollie
 
I saw from bordercollie's approach that a picture is worth at least 1000 words. I tend to be wordy so the attachment should cut down on it for the muffler issue.
 

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I'm trying to breathe some fresh air into this old forum thread from 2012-13.

The subject is: RTV900 mufflers.

The problem is: the bolts mounting the tailpipe to the muffler on my RTV900 are rotting out and my tailpipe is hanging on by a thread. Years ago, I removed the spark arrestor, not realizing that doing so upset the balance on the tailpipe, leading to metal fatigue where it bolts to the muffler.

Messicks wants $303.66 for a "Kit Muffler, SP." That's a lotta do re mi for a muffler for a dinky little 3-cylinder utility engine.

I wish I were Peanut's neighbor ... I'm betting he could fabricate a repair. But I don't have that luxury.

Have any of you found a cheaper vendor for Kubota mufflers, or do you know a work-around for this problem?

Cheers to all.
 
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I havnt given it a lot of thought but i keep on hand a wire feed welder for them small jobs and if anything broke i would probably fabricate something to repair the muffler.a wire feed welder is nice to have and can be picked up cheap if you go with the standard flux core welder from lincoln.You can usually het them for a little over 100 when on sale.Dosnt take a lot to learn to weld with one but i have years of expierence.I wouldnt do wothout one here on the farm.I use it for everything.I also used it to weld tabs on the rops for the side mirrirs.Its a gift from god the things you can fix with it.
 
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