Vertical exhaust pipe on cub cadets and other kinds

On numerous internet pictures, you tube plow days, and other references, I noticed that some have converted these tractors to vertical exhaust stack, some straight pipe, other with a muffler.
Any advantage to this, other than looks?
What muffler would one use?
Just curious.

I am pretty sure it is just for 'looks'. I have seen some with Farmall Cub mufflers, some with the 129 style muffler which is shorter, both extended out from under the hood and turned up,

There is also one on Youtube where the muffler goes straight up through the hood. But I don't know why. On lots (I want to say 'most' but don't dare) of the IH Cub models you have to open the hood to even put gas in the fuel tank.

I do know it would sure be inconvenient to have a vertical exhaust if you are actually using the lawn tractor to mow around trees or bushes. It is enough hassle on a larger tractor.

Yep,looks and noise. I am not saying I would never put one on, I am just saying!

Cost could be an issue as well.
OEM mufflers for some tractors are pricey.
The muffler for a Farmall Cub or a Allis Chalmers B or C come closest.

Also, in replying to my own post, how about the exhaust coming back into your face since it is so low??
Also, I wonder how easy that rusted coupling off the cylinder head would be to get loose?

Exhaust coming back in your face would be due to not raising the muffler/exhaust pipe combination high enough relative to the seat. It's not inevitable.

Yep the jog of the short manifold to the muffler on the cub Kohler is very restrictive, . You will see it when you take the manifold off the head of the engine.
Good enough for quiet mower work but for pulling get ride of it. Made a straight adaptation, cut the sheet metal and straight up to eliminate.

I had a straight pipe on our 1963. #70 Cub Cadet, close to 3 ft long. Sounded nice, and got in the way of everything all the time. For my birthday, maybe it was Christmas, I got two VW Beetle exhaust resonators, the little Chrome tailpipes sticking out under the rear bumper. Then they disappeared and they were on the cubby!
Dual exhausts, stuck up above the hood less than a foot, spaced about 1-1/2 from the hood, no damage to the decals. Didn't seem much louder than stock.
Now, my #72 has a mostly complete per Dave Kirk's instructions Killer Kohler 14 hp with a small 10/12 hp flywheel, and it needed an appropriate exhaust. I ordered a 1-1/2 J-bend from Summit Automotive, made my own exhaust port flange from 1/4 steel, cut the J-bend so the long end exited out just above the starter/generator pulley, to attach to my flange the short end cut had to be at a bit of an angle, and the end of the pipe massaged into a round corner rectangle to make room for the two capcrews. Nice sweeping bend, first time I started that 14 hp engine it was blowing papers sitting on my workbench 6-8 feet away. Yes, it has a bark, but I always wear ear muff headphones when I run it, I have to listen to my AM/FM cassette deck radio when I do yard work! I don't know if it's the correct tuned length. There's instructions on the Internet how to figure that all out, it's loud, got a heck of a bark, I used to run it a lot until I got a big 27 hp Zero-turn mower. And it's completely out of the way.

I wonder about putting a straight pipe on...could it hurt the valves? I pretty much ruined a Briggs by putting a straight pipe on it..it worked hard on a 60 tow finish mower. I had tried a small Allis Chalmers muffler, supporting the outer end pointing backward but kept fracturing the manifold connection..too much vibration, I guess. Leo