tractor tunes

[nazud]

Does anyone out there have some form of tunes on their tractor? I just wander if it would be too loud to hear it over the tractor and MMM. My wife thinks I should just buy some headphones and mow away. It gets kind of boring mowing the back field with nothing to hear but the sound of diesel and deck.

 

[Golfgar4]

You can add radios to most tractors, but unless you're in an enclosed cab, you probably can't hear much. You can purchase headphones (ear muff type) that have a built in radio. They're battery operated, so depending on how long you're out there, they might not last long/w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif. I bought a pair for wearing while I mow with my walk behind, but I'm only out there for about 1 hour. I'll bet somebody out there has Rube Goldberged some kind of system though!/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[MossRoad]

I've used a walkman with the ear bud type headphones and then placed my earmuff type hearing protectors on as usual. Worked pretty well.

 

[BurningtreeFarm]

Go to any tractor type store (TSC and the like) or farm store and they should have a tractor radio that would mount somewhere on the fender or pretty much wherever you would like to, and I garantee you will no longer hear the tractor running, but any radio station you care to listen to, no head phones required,TSC's big blue book price $99.99, page 213.
Tim

 

[Rick572]

I put a radio on mine, and very seldom operate the tractor without listening to it. Its just a cheap walmart thing with no speakers. I wired a headphone jack onto the speaker wires and use some of them big fluffy sony head phones. The Head phones knock out about half the engine/trans noise and are very enjoyable. I feel like I should ware hearing protection anyway, and so might a well listen to some music.

Rick

 

[SynergyDPM]

I recently purchased hearing protectors (muffs) with an FM radio "inside". It reduces noise by 27db and plays music (or talk radio) ! ! L O V E E M !

You can order them online at Northern Tool:

http://www.northerntool.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/CategoryDisplay?cgrfnbr=1462&cgmenbr=6970&PHOTOS=on

Check it out.

Dave

 

[looch]

A friend of mine picked up a pair like that while we were at a NASCAR race in Dover, Delaware last year. Good excuse to go /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.

 

[Wingnut]

... and I had exactly the opposite experience of Dave's. I bought the Northern Tool hearing protectors and haven't been satisfied from second one ... they're now in my recycle/reuse/throw out box in the shop (I tossed them after the last time they annoyed me). Only picks up FM ... very VERY directional, fades out everytime I turn, and fell apart the first time I dropped them. I also found them quite uncomfortable and illfitting for the money. My shooting muffs ... gel filled and extremely comfortable and well-fitting, cost less than these did.
I have gone back to using a good set of hearing protectors and taking my MP3 payer and bud earphone along.

wingnut

 

[MarkV]

John Miller III did a post of a new camopy that had a radio/??? mounted in it with head phones. Sorry, I can't remember where.(must be that grey hair) Looked pretty cool.

MarkV

 

[RhallVA]

I bought an ear protection headset with am/fm radio built in and they are fantastic! I can barely hear the tractor running due to the noise reduction and thus can listen to the radio at a comfortable volume level.
They are called "WorkTunes" and I odered them from Rockler
at www.rockler.com. They were not cheap, but they have been worth every penny thus far. Reception has been excellent for me, but I know it really depends where you live, so I can't predict the reception others will get.

Take care!
Roy in VA

 

[MikePA]

Ron,

Thanks for the tip about Worktunes. I had been using headphones connected to a small radio which worked well, except when the cord from the headphones snagged on something! /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif Neither the headphone cord nor the radio jack liked this very much. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I went to Rockler.com but they were backordered and cost $70. So, I did a web search and found <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.omarksafety.com/category.cfm?acatid=61&aprodid=784>Omark Safety</A>. They had them in stock and the price is $59.21.

 

[WALT]

A less expensive alternative is to buy a good pair of hearing protector muffs. (I use "thunder muffs" $25-30) Then take a walkman speaker type head set, and trim away the connecting headband, at each speaker. Each indivdual speaker can then tuck into the ear cup of the hearing protector. I then run the speaker wire down my back (snaggs less) to a belt mounted walkman. If you break the wiring, plug or speakers, $5.00 buys you a new set, and you're back in business
Besides saving your hearing, this makes wearing hearing protection more enjoyable, so you do it more frequently.
I initially tryed wearing just the walkman headset, but you end up turning up the radio to overpower the motor noise, adding more noise. This method eliminates the ear ringing that followed past tractor use.
I wear this set up on the tractor, and using the brush cutter, table saw, orbital sander, chain saw etc.
Just remember to always pay attention to your task, vs. what you are listening to.

Happy Tractoring

WALT

 

[theboman]

Now I ain't the smartest person in the world, just one of the better looking ones (I ain't the richest either, that Gates fella makes a few bucks more a year than I do give or take a few billion dollars), but I went to the local closeout store (Big Lots) and got this AM/FM walkman type radio with those really cheap headphones and it cost me $9.95 and $4.00 in batteries. The radio keeps on ticking and had takin' a beatin' and fell off a time or two, step on, spit on, etc. So the dial is off but I still find stations. I use small elastic cord to wrap it on the ROPS... ta da. I may invest a new one this spring...

 

[RET]

Mike, Took you advice and visited OMARK Safety. Ordered the work tunes. Got'em in about a week. mowed with them a couple of days ago and was VERY impressed. The only noise I could hear was a muffled low frequency rumble from the engine. Nearly all the higher pitched noise was removed - especially the MMM noise. I only had to turn the FM radio volume up about 1/2. MUCH more enjoyable than before.
Thanks for the tip!
R

 

[Spencer]

I also got the "WorkTunes" last summer from a safety company on the web. Very good unit, and better for your hearing. If you just use a set of regular earphones and a walkman you have to turn the volume up too high just to try and drown out the tractor. My wife loves them too.

Spence

 

[djradz]

Rick, I thought about doing the same. However, most car stereos have a + and - wire for each speaker, and many say will not work with a common - connection. Did you connect the - leads together, since the headphone has only a right +, left + and common -?