Brush Cutting Armor and Clothing

[W5FL]

Tom,

The noise from my Kubota M6800 is not loud at all and I sure would not see the need for protective devices from the noise. Jet engines, yes!

Chain guards are one of the best protective devices you can have, and you don't even have to wear them. I used to dodge branches, finally started just trimming the trees to the height of the ROPS. Sure works nice and you also eliminate all of those nasty scratches. In fairness, my trees are not forest type trees, and not much danger of anything large falling from them. Gordon has good advice for the forest type hazzards.

I also have a lot of ground clearance, but still back into anything that hasn't been cut and is too thick to walk first. Keep the loader low keeps from getting any surprises under the tractor.

The local Rental place rented a guy a brush hog and a M4700 Tractor. The bill for damage to the rig was over $2000 for a single days rental. Bet he was glad he had that on a credit card.

 

[MChalkley]

Tom - The electronic ear muffs do work extremely well. I've got a cell-phone headset that has it and it's very disconcerting to turn it on when there's a high level of ambient noise - all of a sudden, one ear goes dead quiet and the other one is still hearing it. Weird, but it gives you a graphic demonstration of how well it works.

MarkC

 

[Billc]

Tom, my Dad flew helicopters for over 40 years. He's pretty much lost his hearing. Guess guys up north say "What?", but down in Georgia they say "Huh?" or "Hut u sa?"

I know about thoses electronic noise cancellers you spoke of. You can get them in cars as an option. You'll be driving down the road, turn on the noise cancelling switch and poof, no more outside noise. I wear a set of noise canceling headphones when I fly. It's like Mark said, flip the switch and the back ground noise drops to about nothing. Amazing thing.

Wen, you may think that you don't need the ear plugs when on your 6800, but if you put in a set of ear plugs, use the tractor for awhile, and then stop your tractor and take the plugs/ear muffs off...you will notice a huge difference. No more head ringing.

A decent set of ear muffs that cancels out 25 decibles is $15 and a set of disposable foamy ear plugs costs about $5. Money well spent. I used to use just the foamy plugs, but now use both.

Guess after listening to my Dad for the last 20 years saying "Huh, quit mumbling, move your lips!" has me being extra careful of my hearing...especailly since I remember my stupid teen days putting on a head phone set and turing up the music as loud as it would go...I thought ear ringing was cool back then. What a dumba** I was.

 

[TomG]

Universal man that I am, I did my military schooling in Biloxi. 'Huh' is in my vocabulary and a few others. However, they won't go through my spell checker, and I'm very suggestible.

Yep, I've been real hard on my ears: shooting, blues guitar and bass, sound business and drummer. Might as well have taken up flying, but I probably had more fun. The ringing in my ears used to last a half-hour, then over-night, and now it's been permanent for years. Of course, the ringing is right in the middle of the threshold range I mentioned (it always is). When I hear something with that frequency, it has to be louder than the same sound that my ear makes. It makes understanding conversation in a crowded room a little tough. Shuts me up though

For anybody who doesn't bother with plugs, I'll say that any ringing is a sign of ear damage. The damage is cumulative over a lifetime. It just doesn't get better. You don't recover.

 

[Ian]

Tom,great information!

Just thought I'd add something re: ringing in the ears. If you experience this, and have no good reason for it (like standing next to a jet on takeoff), you should have it checked out by a doctor. My experience with this relates to my wife, and that ringing in her ear was the first sign of something a lot more serious.

Billc - although I use both muffs and plugs, it never occurred to me to use them together. Thanks!

One reason to always use ear protection - it makes any job easier by reducing fatigue; noise is a major cause of fatigue. I find I stay more alert on the tractor, and am a safer operator because of it. And I sure can't imagine working a chainsaw without muffs. Now (thanks to this duscussion) I'm in the market for the helmet as well /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.