Lawn Mowers & String Trimmers

So far, I can mow grass with a riding mower, and I do not have any issues with my Echo string trimmer. Still waiting on my anti-vibration gloves.

 

Would wearing foam earplugs (NRR of 29), along with Rifleman (for gun range) over-the-ear headphones, be sufficient protection for mowing the lawn with a riding mower? It takes about 40 minutes in total. The Rifleman headphones seem to block out more noise than the John Deere ones I got when I purchased the mower. They are not noise-canceling, though.

Based on the dB meter on my iPhone, the mower noise is less than 90 dB, more like mid-80s. I don’t feel the sound is uncomfortable using this combo. In comparison, in the past, I would only use foam earplugs at rock concerts, and that was fine.

Also, are anti-vibration gloves really needed? Do they do anything to protect your ears/hearing?

 

It's your risk to take.

It depends on how badly your ears are damaged, how bad your tinnitus is, and whether you can cope with a worsening.

A damping seat and footwear with an absorbing material will help with hearing protection, too.

You could always pay someone to do it and take no risk.

 

I bought 3M Pro-grade earmuffs today with 30 dB NRR. I mowed my lawn (riding mower) with those earmuffs and foam earplugs. It took about 40 minutes. It did not sound or feel too loud with respect to being dangerous. I could hear my tinnitus while mowing (probably because of the double protection), but I don't perceive any spike in my tinnitus. At worst, I figure the dB level would have been around 70 if I got a 20 dB - 25 dB reduction from the hearing protection.

I need to be able to do things like this in order to feel normal.

 

I still use a gas push mower to mow my lawn, but I wear foam earplugs since my tinnitus got severe 2 years ago.

The mower isn't loud at all with the foam earplugs in. I never used to use any ear protection for mowing prior to that. Same thing with my snow blower.

Of course, a large rider mower is a different story.

 

Thanks for the response. I have to believe that the double protection I’m using is more than sufficient to avoid any potential hearing damage.

It’s easy when you have tinnitus to think that noise levels that are normally safe all of a sudden become dangerous “just because.”

 

I only use battery-powered lawn mower. The noise level is about 70-75 dB and I double protect.

 

You could try an electric mower and weed eater; they are a lot quieter. I always use hearing protection with my gas riding mower, weed eater, and most power tools (angle grinder, circular saw, Dremel), including my kitchen blender. I never noticed an increase in tinnitus after using hearing protection. I even just started using hearing protection when vacuuming because it is quite loud, but it did not come with a warning, and neither did any of the other things.