What tractor do you think is the quietest ever?

[Dizno]

Or one with an aftermarket quiet muffler….

I have often wondered if there was an aftermarket supplier for extra noise reduction. An original Mannheim muffler was a lot heavier than the aftermarket replica I have in there now. It was something like 10 lbs heavier.

 

[RalphVa]

My wife is noise sensitive and our diesel 3 cylinder is too loud for her. My brother has an old Allis 170 gas that is a lot quieter. What tractor do you know of that made you amazed of how quiet it was? Just lookin and reflecting…

The Kubota I have now is quieter than the 3 JDs because the HST does not whine. Also idles at a lower speed than the last 2 JDs. The 1025R was the worst: very obnoxious 1700 rpm idle speed.

 

[JimRB]

Ever heard a 2 stroke Detroit (GM) up close? they also Rev higher than most diesels as well. Neat engine but a real screamer.

Always thought our Case Agri King had a very quiet 6.6 liter 6 cylinder turbo diesel Have a T250 Bobcat with a Kubota V3300 DIT in the extended family and imo it is real quiet and smooth. My China rhino tractor 495A is also quiet except for the gears that drive the injector pump and cam, straight cut so they whine which is what can be heard at a distance, but the diesel engine has virtually no rattle/knock at all.

Always wondered whether it was the piston bowl design or maybe being a dry liner engine.

It is interesting how some direct injected diesels are quiet while others are knockers, older Cummins , Yanmar and Shibaura all come to mind as rattlers at idle, but some very long lived reliable engines.

Heck even a 1 year difference in the same basic diesel engine makes a difference in how it "sounds."
I have a 2003 RAM with 5.9 Cummins Turbo diesel. Wife has a 2004 RAM, Cummins made a few changes in the engine pistons and other changes like injector timing and pulse width events in the 5.9.
Her engine is significantly quieter running than mine.

The 2004 Dodge Cummins has common rail system. The 2003 or 2002 has that noisy Bosch pump like my 2003 Jetta TDI. VW also went to different system in 2004 that is quieter. I bought a used 2004 Dodge instead of the older noisier pump just to be a little quieter. The last mini-excavator I rented had a Yanmar diesel. Much quieter than the Yanmar in my 1996 JD 870. The 870 has old style noise injector pump. Interesting thread I need to continue to read.

By the way my original JD 60" mower was "quiet." The replacement mower has a chinese gearbox with lightweight grease in it. That gearbox has an annoying whine the JD unit did not have. I need to get some metal cut and bent (all the 12 guage deck) so I can rebuild the JD mower.

If someone in the house is complaining about the noise there may be insulation and window issues with the house. We have cellulose insulation which seems to do a fair job of keeping outside sounds down. The cheap insulated glass windows let most of the outside sounds in.

I get more annoyed when my wife is putting dishes in the dishwasher than when I put them in. It has to be the same noise level. I too have some sounds that really annoy me, more than others. A spouse with hearing challenges/noise sensitivity is tough. My wife likes some sort of white noise when sleeping at night. I can sleep in a quiet room.

 

[ljjhouser]

Quietest? Least Noise? maybe this one, unless the operator is loud.

 

[sd455dan]

The 2004 Dodge Cummins has common rail system. The 2003 or 2002 has that noisy Bosch pump like my 2003 Jetta TDI. VW also went to different system in 2004 that is quieter. I bought a used 2004 Dodge instead of the older noisier pump just to be a little quieter. The last mini-excavator I rented had a Yanmar diesel. Much quieter than the Yanmar in my 1996 JD 870. The 870 has old style noise injector pump. Interesting thread I need to continue to read.

By the way my original JD 60" mower was "quiet." The replacement mower has a chinese gearbox with lightweight grease in it. That gearbox has an annoying whine the JD unit did not have. I need to get some metal cut and bent (all the 12 guage deck) so I can rebuild the JD mower.

If someone in the house is complaining about the noise there may be insulation and window issues with the house. We have cellulose insulation which seems to do a fair job of keeping outside sounds down. The cheap insulated glass windows let most of the outside sounds in.

I get more annoyed when my wife is putting dishes in the dishwasher than when I put them in. It has to be the same noise level. I too have some sounds that really annoy me, more than others. A spouse with hearing challenges/noise sensitivity is tough. My wife likes some sort of white noise when sleeping at night. I can sleep in a quiet room.

No, Sorry but that is not correct on the Rams.
My truck (2003 model year) is the 1st year of the 3rd gen CP3 Common Rails it is an H.O. (high output 305 hp, 555 ft lb.) but has no emission controls. The unicorn Common rail.
No cat, def, egr, intake butterfly, just common rail.

At some point in 04 the 5.9 used the same CP3 pump but they changed the Turbo, pistons and modified the injection events, haven't looked at her truck yet.

My 03 does better on MPG than the 04 by around 3 miles per gallon as well. But it is louder and just sounds less refined than the 04.

She has only had the truck for about a month, I need to do an oil and filter change and figure out which 5.9 Cummins her truck actually is equipped with. HP and torque of the 2003-2005 models below.
Oh Oh... my girls truck may have more power than my truck.

2003​	Standard:​	235 hp @ 2,700 rpm​	460 lb-ft @ 1,400 rpm​	Bosch High pressure common rail replaces VP44 injection pump.​
High Output:​	305 hp @ 2,900 rpm​	555 lb-ft @ 1,400 rpm​
2004​	Standard:​	305 hp @ 2,900 rpm​	555 lb-ft @ 1,400 rpm​	N/A​
California only:​	235 hp @ 2,700 rpm​	460 lb-ft @ 1,400 rpm​
High Output:​	325 hp @ 2,900 rpm​	600 lb-ft @ 1,600 rpm​
2005​	325 hp @ 2,900 rpm​	610 lb-ft @ 1,600 rpm​	N/A​

 

[Buggs67]

I would be interested in trying an electric ZTM. I've had my Hustler 3 years and just got it sorted out (I hope) so I'm not interested in changing horses mid-stream. The Ryobi is the same as I paid for the Hustler and the EGO is $1,800 more.

I've added a few Ryobi One+ tools and are happy with them so far.

 

[Doughknob]

I have often wondered if there was an aftermarket supplier for extra noise reduction. An original Mannheim muffler was a lot heavier than the aftermarket replica I have in there now. It was something like 10 lbs heavier.

Not sure about tractor-specific aftermarket mufflers. But……almost any car muffler that has the right size pipe and will fit in the available space will work. It, likely, just will rust out faster but would be quieter while it lasted.

 

[MESSMAKER]

Tractors with Common Rail injection may be a little bit quieter than the ones with mechanical injection.

Other than that, maybe electric?

My Kioti is a common rail and is pretty quiet unless you rev it.

 

[RalphVa]

My wife is noise sensitive and our diesel 3 cylinder is too loud for her. My brother has an old Allis 170 gas that is a lot quieter. What tractor do you know of that made you amazed of how quiet it was? Just lookin and reflecting…

There is one or two electric tractors. Ear muffs are probably cheaper.

A tractor with an Isuzu engine would be the quietist diesel. Our Isuzu diesel generator driver is a real gem. You'd never know it was a diesel: no clatter; no smoke.

 

[sd455dan]

...and they fertilize while munching as well.

My dad used to say something like,
God never created a more perfect machine for turning cash into manure... than a horse, but at least a few of them are a bit smarter than chickens.

 

[Sportsman762]

I was really hoping that someone had found the magical quiet tractor. I am very noise adverse, however have never found a "quiet tractor". The closest would have been a International 140 that had been modified as a carrier for a piece of specialty equipment. The tractor never ran above fast idle and was quiet, however if you revved it up it was just as loud as most other gas tractors.

I will say that the newer tractor cabs are nice and quiet on larger machines. Most tractors I still wear hearing protection in the cab as they are still to loud for me. I am young, but my hearing with background noise is lousy, the thought of loosing my hearing scares me so I try to be extra careful.

 

[rScotty]

I was really hoping that someone had found the magical quiet tractor. I am very noise adverse, however have never found a "quiet tractor". The closest would have been a International 140 that had been modified as a carrier for a piece of specialty equipment. The tractor never ran above fast idle and was quiet, however if you revved it up it was just as loud as most other gas tractors.

I will say that the newer tractor cabs are nice and quiet on larger machines. Most tractors I still wear hearing protection in the cab as they are still to loud for me. I am young, but my hearing with background noise is lousy, the thought of loosing my hearing scares me so I try to be extra careful.

The old 4 cylinder gasoline tractors with large industrial engines - Some used Continental engines & others were Masseys & Internationals. They pumped out tons of torque at low RPM - which means low HP. Some of them were very quiet. I've "heard" Internationals that I had to lay my hand on to make sure they were running.. These big block low RPM gassers were popular in the 1950 thru 70s and they did the same work their modern counterparts do. But they did it at a much lower RPM. Some of them idle at a couple hundred and work at a thousand.

The downside is that they tend not to have modern loaders, or power steering... and most have a regular manual gearbox with a limited number of gears. They require effort to operate. They do have a modern 3pt hitch. Or at least most do.

The upside is you can go to a tractor show and find one that some elderly dude has put his heart and soul into restoring good as new - and for a reasonable price. Not cheap, but reasonable.

Or if you want more modern conveniences (and I bet you do, I did) you can get a fairly quiet diesel from the 1970s thru about 2007 and just resolve to run it at low RPMs. Having lots of gears helps to do that. The newer models post 2008/2015 and later can't be worked at low idle as well because it loads up the pollution devices, but diesels from those earlier years can work forever at a fast idle.

On the hearing....just take care of it. I know that's weak advise, but apparently we can't do any better than that. Yet.
Today, our hearing can stay the same or get worse but doesn't repair itself well. Maybe not at all. So use real ear protection. Consider getting your hearing checked to get a baseline - changes in hearing happen too slowly to notice...which seems to be a large part of the problem. Use a good set of shooter or muffler style headphones that really do block sound energy. If you can hear conversation it isn't good enough.
And look into whether noise canceling or music buds are good for your ears or not. The jury is still out on both those. I bet if you start now you can keep your hearing intact.

rScotty