Hearing Protection

[Charlesaf3]

another lesson learned...

I keep the plugs on the tractor. Sometimes even use them. I'm going to try to be better about it after reading this.

I do use plugs and muffs running the chipper. Man is that loud. Hat/muff for chainsaw, now I'll add the plugs.

I bought a box of milwaukee plugs on amazon for $6 or so - big box, hundreds. That price has gone up, sadly, but its still nice to have a them everywhere. Don't know about others, but I've found unless safety equipment is lying around everywhere I won't bother to hunt for it...

 

[BeeferMan]

I use the muffs, and I use them a lot. Protects me from the sound of hammering, engine noise, grinding, and I even wear them into the house as they offer a small, but noticeable amount of protection from the constant jabbering of... well never mind.

But here's another benefit I've found from running equipment while wearing the hearing protection. They tend to be better at blocking out the high frequencies, so when you're running something like a haybine or a baler you can hear the sound of the heavy components rather than the sheet metal flapping. I don't care as much about the pickup teeth as I do, say, the roller bearings...

 

[MikeInEburg]

I'm firmly in the "wear them whenever using equipment" camp. The muff-style for me - with speakers to plug into my MP3 player. Safety glasses when mowing. And boots.
Mike

 

[Hematite]

I use the muffs, and I use them a lot. Protects me from the sound of hammering, engine noise, grinding, and I even wear them into the house as they offer a small, but noticeable amount of protection from the constant jabbering of... well never mind.

But here's another benefit I've found from running equipment while wearing the hearing protection. They tend to be better at blocking out the high frequencies, so when you're running something like a haybine or a baler you can hear the sound of the heavy components rather than the sheet metal flapping. I don't care as much about the pickup teeth as I do, say, the roller bearings...

Good one about the in house hearing protection!

I also noticed what you said about the higher frequencies being blocked and only hearing the lower frequencies when I used them while mowing, yesterday.

 

[Ford850]

The Peltors i purchased have a limit to how loud they will go. I think it is 82 db.

The radio is 82db maximum, but that's on top of the sound from the equipment. So if they are rated at 22db protection and you are using your tractor at 92db, you have 70db of noise from the tractor plus the radio of 82db max. That's 152db WITH your ear muffs on.
I used to use the radio muffs until I thought about it. Why would I want to add 30 - 40db minimum from the music when the muffs only reduce the tractor by 22db. I would be better off with no muffs. Now I wear foam plugs because they are rated as the best protection when inserted properly. It takes some practice to get them in your ears deep enough, but once you get the hang of it, it is easy.

 

[ragkar]

Sorry but you're wrong.
As previously stated, hearing is on a logarithmic scale and you just can't add together db numbers. If you had 82db noise and you added to it another 82db (doubling the noise intensity) the result would be 85db noise. And an increase of 3db is just barely perceptible to the human ear.

The formula is
Db of sound[P1] = 10 times log[base 10] of (P1/Pref)

So if you do the math 82db plus 70db equals 82.3 db.

 

[savageactor7]

Sorry to hear about the Maine_Polack's trouble with the Peltars. This spring I got the 'Peltar 22 worktunes' ear protectors...love 'em.

 

[Uncle Wayne]

I use the foam type when on my JD 4320 or mowing with my LT155 JD mower. Works pretty good for me.

 

[archerm3]

Does anyone use hearing protection?
If so, what kind?
I tried the sponge rubber squishable ear plugs and they work a little bit. Nice and light and non-intrusive but not quite enough noise reduction.
Then I tried my shooting headset - A Swiss "Thunder 29" and it seemed to amplify the low frequency noises. So no-go on that idea.

This noise thing hasn't been a problem for me with older tractors, but recently we got a new TLB with a canopy and the exhuast right by the front wheel. That combo makes it sort of loud for the operator.
rScotty

The last time I saw a comparison was from the Army Medical research laboratory, which shows that nothing can beat the little yellow squishy earplugs in passive dB reduction.

 

[Happyman]

Always, always, always use some sort of hearing protection. For under $100 I had a set of custom ear plugs made. They fit perfectly to the contour of my ear canals. I wear them whenever my butt hits the tractor seat.....and then I put on muffs for that extra edge of protection. It may sound like overkill (no pun intended) but hearing loss can't be found again and I really don't care to be an old deaf man later in life (only 52 right now ).