AM/FM Headphones

[Industrial Toys]

Point taken. But I get bored really easy when doing a monotenous task and probably am more alert to what I am doing listening to (GOOD) music then if I were bored and my mind was somewhere else entirely. And no, I'm not a person that walks around with ear buds and don't understand that "trend" either.

 

[big bubba]

if you get bored easily operating heavy machinery you don't need to be operating the equip.
we all get tired & sometimes bored...then it's time to chill & entertain yourself in downtime.

 

[MF RED in MT]

I started out with a simple set of head-muffs, no electronics.

Then I upgraded to an AM/FM (worthless for stations on my property) radio with a micro mini type jack to plug into my MP3 player.

Now I have a Bluetooth set to play my MP3 player, and if I need to talk to someone I just turn the music volume down and then turn up the other knob for normal outside noise.

By the way, sometimes I chew gum and drink coffee while operating the tractor and can still be on the lookout for hazards...

KC

 

[LouNY]

If they worked good with the bluetooth I could see using them for communicating between tractors.
The phones work OK in the cab tractors but not worth a **** on the open station.
And even in the cab tractors when I'm chopping it can be difficult to hear the phone.

 

[MF RED in MT]

If they worked good with the bluetooth I could see using them for communicating between tractors.
The phones work OK in the cab tractors but not worth a **** on the open station.
And even in the cab tractors when I'm chopping it can be difficult to hear the phone.

On my property, using a cell phone with a big name providers service is like maybe seeing an UFO, so using a cell phone while in the tractor is non-existing.

Very close to the house we can use WI-FI calling.

KC

 

[Richard]

not sure why this is in the safety forum. anyway am sure my comment will grate with some, but personally, feel headphones are an unnecessary luxury & a safety hazard for tractor/machinery operators for obvious safety reasons. there are numerous times when brush hogging that if i were distracted bobbing my head w/tunes, my attention would be diverted from boulders or other obstacles putting me & machinery at risk.

i only comment this since the post is in the safety forum. i'm sure many would disagree with me. just be aware as you make your choice of acoustics. best regards

I (respectfully) disagree. My brother in law has (your) similar attitude.... says if there is a creak in his equipment, he wants to hear it.

I wear some in-ear buds, plugged into an Ipod so I can filter thorugh what I want. Ipod is in my pocket. OVER all of that, I have some very quiet over-ear muffs.

It doesn't totally isolate you from what's going on, it greatly reduces it. So, if there is a "clunk" to be heard, my brother in law is hearing the clunk at full volume, along with the thrum of the engine noise of the tractor (or whatever).

I will also hear that same clunk however for me, it will simply be more in the background as all my sounds are muted.

I want to be able to hear later in life so when I'm 90 and my wife is yelling at me to take the trash out, I'll hear her (and my postponing it will be by choice, not lack of hearing!)

I don't feel I'm missing ANY of what's going on by wearing something to protect my ears.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Usually the main noise would drown out any lesser noise of something gone wrong. And a catastrophic noise you will usually hear with muffs on anyway. Besides, by the time it makes a terrible racket, most of the damage has been done already. lol

I guess it depends on the operator too. I really care about my equipment, time and pocket book, so I am tuned into the noise. Some operators are more in tune with their music, usually when it's not their machine.

 

[Diggin It]

not sure why this is in the safety forum. anyway am sure my comment will grate with some, but personally, feel headphones are an unnecessary luxury & a safety hazard for tractor/machinery operators for obvious safety reasons. there are numerous times when brush hogging that if i were distracted bobbing my head w/tunes, my attention would be diverted from boulders or other obstacles putting me & machinery at risk.

i only comment this since the post is in the safety forum. i'm sure many would disagree with me. just be aware as you make your choice of acoustics. best regards

Same reason I don't have music playing in a car. Not only do I want to hear the car for unusual sounds, but I need to hear sounds outside the car, like horns, sirens, screams ....

 

[Industrial Toys]

The last time I worked in a Steel Mill, I felt very unsafe with all the PPE I had to wear! Felt like I might get mowed down by a fork truck, denied some of my senses totally and others at least partially.

If I am cutting wood, I wear hearing protection. If I am cutting a good sized tree down, I won't, to have my hearing.

 

[LouNY]

Usually the main noise would drown out any lesser noise of something gone wrong. And a catastrophic noise you will usually hear with muffs on anyway. Besides, by the time it makes a terrible racket, most of the damage has been done already. lol

I guess it depends on the operator too. I really care about my equipment, time and pocket book, so I am tuned into the noise. Some operators are more in tune with their music, usually when it's not their machine.

Same reason I don't have music playing in a car. Not only do I want to hear the car for unusual sounds, but I need to hear sounds outside the car, like horns, sirens, screams ....

I've found over the years and with the diminished hearing that I have had for awhile that while I can hear quite a bit of what my equipment is doing,
I actually seem to feel it more a vibration or frequency change which will have me reaching for the pto and throttle before it has fully registered what is changing or happening.
I have spent a half hour at times walking around a piece of equipment pushing and pulling on joints and shafts feeling for hot spots because it just didn't feel right,
and usually finding something or when someone else is around having them listen and at times it will be several hours of operation before we find what I was looking for.