Heat generated from the HDI exhaust system and modifing the stock exhaust

[mightymaxIV]

Heat from the exhaust system is one of the things that has plauged my Argo HDI since I have owned it. As a passenger you could feel the radiated heat from the engine and the exhaust system. When you opened the hood the radiated heat from the exhaust was very intense and I worried about damage to the plastic panels. Argo placed the hugh stock muffler right over the belt drive system and on hot days you could feel that expensive HDI belt start to slip and chatter.

Enough, a call to Robertson's torque tubes in S.D. got me a custom set of tubes with a two into one collector and an awesome disc muffler that makes that Kohler engine sound a lot like a Harley (sorry son-Mike owns and loves his Harley's)

Anyway, the new exhaust is in place and hopefully the heat issues will be resolved, I got a little more power out of the engine and the sound is really, really nice!

[Rusty-Gunn]

Nice sounding engine.

[Rock Doctor]

It does sound good, but I would be concerned with catching that Muffler against a tree as I rubbed past. Any way to shorten it, or pull it back into the shroud just a bit?

(Not slamming it at all, I like it, just a concern I would have)

RD

[Noel Woods]

I've never heard of a disc muffler, nor seen one. That's a nice compact and low resistance unit. I also like the headers very much as they eliminate the heat tank otherwise known as the muffler. The headers really clean up the engine compartment and should ease the effort to replace the belt as well.

Better even still to get another couple additional horse power from a package that runs cooler, and sounds great.

Very innovative.

[mightymaxIV]

It does sound good, but I would be concerned with catching that Muffler against a tree as I rubbed past. Any way to shorten it, or pull it back into the shroud just a bit?

(Not slamming it at all, I like it, just a concern I would have)

RD

Hey Doc, ya I have the same concern, but for now I am just going to watch it carefully, but in time it may have to be shortened up a bit.

[mightymaxIV]

I've never heard of a disc muffler, nor seen one. That's a nice compact and low resistance unit. I also like the headers very much as they eliminate the heat tank otherwise known as the muffler. The headers really clean up the engine compartment and should ease the effort to replace the belt as well.

Better even still to get another couple additional horse power from a package that runs cooler, and sounds great.

Very innovative.

Hey Noel, the great thing about the disc muffler is-it is tunable! Add disc to lower back pressure, or remove disc to quiet the muffler down and increase back pressure.

[Sol]

very cool!

[tbone9]

I like it. Kinda looks like Fmints influenced. Wish I woulda went that route on my max. Went with dual exhaust instead and it's a bit too loud.

[mightymaxIV]

I like it. Kinda looks like Fmints influenced. Wish I woulda went that route on my max. Went with dual exhaust instead and it's a bit too loud.

Yes, Fred was the one who gave me information and a link for this exhaust system. I always thought Fred's Hustler had a hopped up Briggs, I was quite surprised to find out it has a stock Kohler with an exhaust system much like mine made with pipes from the Robertson shop.I love the sound of that Kohler engine, now if I could just get another 1500 RPM out of it I might be happy for awhile.

[Tomo]

hi
Super Trapp sell weld on units 1 1/2, 1 3/4 inch allowing u to change discs etc to suit power /noise levels .For a bandalero engine [5600rpm 570cc] the 1 1/2 is ok . I do use a straight thru style muffler as well . Quietens engine well without being restrictive .The discs also serve as a spark arrestor . An engine can produce sparks. Nobody wants to set the brush on fire !!!!! The discs run hot ..
Also ceramic coating on the header pipes will cut the radiant heat of the pipes by half .
U can use fibre glass header wrap but remember this overheats the steel that much it crystalizes and the pipe goes brittle 6-12mth life span .
Weld on or clamp on stainless heat shield is also an idea
U could weld on stainless shield to take advantage of any air coming off the engine to cool the pipes. Waste hot air directed out of the body.
tomo

[tbone9]

We watched an episode of life below zero where the woman driving a centaur in that cold climate also had belt slipping issues. My girlfriend said go ahead and say it " women drivers" lol. Much to her surprise I said that's the nature of the beast with any aatv.

[mightymaxIV]

hi
Super Trapp sell weld on units 1 1/2, 1 3/4 inch allowing u to change discs etc to suit power /noise levels .For a bandalero engine [5600rpm 570cc] the 1 1/2 is ok . I do use a straight thru style muffler as well . Quietens engine well without being restrictive .The discs also serve as a spark arrestor . An engine can produce sparks. Nobody wants to set the brush on fire !!!!! The discs run hot ..
Also ceramic coating on the header pipes will cut the radiant heat of the pipes by half .
U can use fibre glass header wrap but remember this overheats the steel that much it crystalizes and the pipe goes brittle 6-12mth life span .
Weld on or clamp on stainless heat shield is also an idea
U could weld on stainless shield to take advantage of any air coming off the engine to cool the pipes. Waste hot air directed out of the body.
tomo

All great ideas Tomo, I was going to do the heat wrap but as you stated eventually the pipes will get brittle. I think I'll paint the headers, go with the heat shield and run it a while to see what happens. I am pretty sure these simple things will be effective in solving the heat issues without going over board.

[Normable1973]

It seems really sad to me that you guys pay so much for theses Argos and everyone has these heat issues, argo should step up and make proper mods to eliminate these problems... Just seems wired to me... Norm.

[mightymaxIV]

It seems really sad to me that you guys pay so much for theses Argos and everyone has these heat issues, argo should step up and make proper mods to eliminate these problems... Just seems wired to me... Norm.

Norm-I couldn't agree with you more. It seems to me that Argo could locate a smaller muffler outside of the engine bay in the screened area dissipating heat out side of the engine bay with very little effort. To me they are taking a cost effective way that leaves the problems at the consumer end to resolve engineering issues that should have been addressed at the factory. When you consider that an HDI cost more money then many new economy cars you wonder what the heck the Argo engineers are thinking sending out machines with problems like these.

[Noel Woods]

I couldn't agree more with the above. Argo has been working to resolve the heat issues, slowly but surely. The new machines have the hood scoop with an optional vent to pull heat out of the engine bay.
The problem is utilizing a stock Briggs or Kohler engine without mods. For example, the oil cooler on my Argo with the 23 H.P. Briggs is on the back side of the engine where virtually no air circulates (maybe just hot air). While the engine is adequate power-wise it suffers from a restrictive stock muffler that is inside the hood and just acts as a major heat source. The muffler is so close to the carb that I think a lot of the fuel is boiled away before it reaches the intake, resulting in stumbling and running rough when the temperature is above 70 degrees.
Other than those issues my machine is a fine piece of equipment. With some refinement on the packaging it could also perform well in hot weather environments.
My understanding is Argo is soon to introduce a new machine with many of the design issues addressed. Look for better cooling, more power and fuel injection.
I believe the new engine will be a version of the Kohler 29 H.P. EFI engine. Hopefully packaged in such a way to get the heat out of the engine bay. From what I hear we may also see a modern design for the body and some other updates.