[wow08816]

Just curious how the different brands stack up as far as noise levels. Does louder necessarily equate to more clearing power? If so, then Hondas and Yamahas would be more damaging than a rock concert.

 

[forbeskm]

My Ariens 926 is about 98db standing behind it. I wear ear muffs over my hat.

 

[Dauntae]

Noise lever is irrelevant to snow moving power, seems the old Tecumseh engines make some noise, The newer although chinese engines seem to be a bit quieter.

 

[JLawrence08648]

There's an app for that! A dba sound meter app. Works good.

 

[RedOctobyr]

Does louder necessarily equate to more clearing power?

Definitely not.

If so, then Hondas and Yamahas would be more damaging than a rock concert.

I confess I'm not sure what this means

JLawrence08648, good reminder about the apps. Though I'd trust them for relative measurements between different engines that a person has, using the same phone, at the same distance. I'm not sure I'd trust the measurements as being comparable between different users, and definitely not between different phones. The microphones on the different phones may have different sensitivities, etc.

My Tecumseh L-head 8hp was "pretty loud". My Tecumseh OHV 10hp is also "pretty loud". I wear hearing protection when I clear, but I usually do when running a small engine. My little Honda suitcase-style generator is probably my only small engine that doesn't justify hearing protection when you're near it.

 

[GustoGuy]

Noise lever is irrelevant to snow moving power, seems the old Tecumseh engines make some noise, The newer although chinese engines seem to be a bit quieter.

They copied the Honda style multibaffle muffler design. New powersport laws mean you have to make new equipment quieter than the old stuff. I for one like a quieter machine. New snowmobiles are so much quieter than the old ones

 

[dr bob]

Mine is loud enough to require both earplugs and some pretty quiet (NR 34) muffs. I'm pretty religious about protecting my hearing though. It would be interesting to find a quieter muffler setup. Not that much attention seems to be paid to making these things quiet, even though it would make the job a bit easier without so much noise.

Plus I could get started earlier in the morning if it was quiet.

 

[amuller]

At 67 I'm significantly hearing-impaired, probably from too much time around small engines, airplanes, and tractors. The damage is cumulative and irreversible. By all means wear ear protection!

I think newer machines tend to be significantly quieter. Much of the noise is from the exhaust, and also from the inlet, made worse as snow engines usually have no intake filter.

 

[Tony P.]

Confucius say, "The more you use small engines without ear protection the quieter they become".

 

[Gator9329]

My new hss928 is so much quieter than my old craftsman machine. I really like that it's this quiet. When i go out early to clear the wife says she can hear it inside but it's not offensive like my neighbors is.
It's the same for generators. i have a rattle box screamer that I avoid using because the racket it makes. The honda my friend has can run right next to you and you don't have to raise your voice.

 

[jtclays]

MTD's 208cc and 243cc Powermore engines have had a quieter muffler on them for a couple years.
Craftsman models call it Quiet Technology, and Troy Bilt calls it NoiseGuard Technology. Supposed to drop sound level 45%.
http://www.troybilt.com/equipment/troybilt/storm™-2890-snow-thrower-storm-2890--1
Sears.com

 

[GregNL]

I started wearing ear plugs after just 2 uses with my Yamaha, albeit older model, as I noticed a significant impact on my hearing despite being quieter than a lot of machines out there. After 2-3hrs each time it certainly added up. It's been a week and I'm still noticing a slight loss. I'm not sure why I went without it as I usually put on hearing protection when using a hammer or impact driver as even short bursts of noise like that bothers me.

I wonder if cutting open the muffler to pack it with something or install more baffles would make a significant difference without sucking anything into the engine.

As for the Decibel apps, they are pretty accurate. I had one on my iPhone several years ago and used it along side an actual high end meter and the results were the same. The issue is the self calibration options in them so you could make it more sensitive or change the range slightly but with nothing to compare it to you won't know if it's accurate or not. As said, it depends on the phone being used as well, dirt in the mic, if there's a case over it, etc. Still, it will get you in the ballpark of the actual noise level and at no cost to you except make you aware you should be using hearing protection.