Rerouting a muffer

Has anyone else done this? I do have some consern about the exhaust gases venting right under the tractor, but feel routing the tail pipe all the way under the tractor to have a rear discharge is not feasable. I think I would hit this rear tail pipe on everthing (ground clearence issue). Before I do this, just thought I would ask is anyone else has done this with any success.

I thought about laying the muffer parallel with the hood, but then I would I get a face full of exhaust. What might work is to have the muffer this way and run the exhaust right out the front of the tractor. This way the exhaust would discharge the furthest from the driver.

I thought about making a really short muffler and mounting it as the orginal.

I believe the design engineers with a top mounted muffler believe the bulk of the exhaust would go up over the driver. This is true in my case, unless I stand on my tractor while driving. When I do this I get a face full of fumes depending on the wind.

I think the best idea is to have the muffler parallel and then have the tip bend up (toward the sky). This way the fumes would still go up and I should still get it under the barn door.

What kind of spacing do you think I need to keep the heat off of my hood? I do not want all my paint to peel.

I know fumes and heat aren't very nice to deal with. Under frame exhaust systems worked fine on light tractors like the Ford 8N. However with tractors the size of your 544 heat under your floor boards becomes a big factor. From other discussion I believe your tractor is a utility, right or wrong? My uncle had a new 300 utility, with under frame exhaust. He had to change it, as he put it, if the heat didn't get you the fumes would. Fumes seem to be the worst when operating mounted equipment like mowers, rear blades, etc. Seems like the fumes hit the implement and curl up behind you.

How big of a job would it be to make your doorway higher? I think if I had a tractor the size of a 544, I would want the doorway higher for a number of reasons. Someday you will have other high items you wish to back through that doorway, like mower, trailer, and items you never thought you would acquire.

I remember one time a dealer bringing my dad a tractor to try out. Dad had some hay to bale, and he was baling the second windrow and using bale thrower and wagon. Dad being on a tractor he wasn't used to didn't notice some hay had caught on underside of tractor. When it finally let go on the corner the hay was on fire from exhaust heat. The hay was quite dry that day and before 3 of us got fire out it burned 1/2 acre of hay. I have heard other similar stories. One guy even burned his barn, hay on the ground around an outdoor bale conveyor that moved bales to barn. Upright exhausts can be bad also if to close to ceiling.

Take Care
Steve