The lawn mower is important equipment that is used to maintain your lawn or other grassy areas. Push along lawn mowers have got older now, as with the advancement in technology, you can now have gas lawn mowers that provide you more power. The next advancement is the invention of electric lawn mowers and then the cordless lawn mowers.
Each lawn mower has its advantages and disadvantages and you can choose the one that suits you, but a fact that no one can deny is that this machine is quite loud. Lawn mowers consist of many moving parts and thus also contribute to noise production. Many areas have strict noise regulations such as Europe and you must conform to those rules.
In terms of lawn mower noise, different lawn mowers generate different amounts of noise. But you can choose the lawn mower by checking the lawn mower decibels, which can tell you how loud is a lawn mower. There are other solutions as well which will also be discussed on this page along with providing information about lawn mowers decibels, necessary lawn mower noise, and others.
Decibel Level:
Lawn mower sound level is measured in decibels. If you are wondering how loud is a lawn mower in decibels, the lawn mower decibels is around 90. Although it is somewhat similar to the sound decibels produced by normal headphones, which goes up to 110 decibels, this is still quite noisy and unhealthy, even though we enjoy loud music on our headphones.
You can have more understanding of how loud is a lawn mower by comparing lawn mower decibels to normal conversation which is about 60 decibels and a rock concert that we enjoy produces 120 decibels. And as the lawn mower sound is none like the sound we enjoy, everyone finds it very loud. This must be especially kept in mind if someone nearby you are sick or you live in an area nearby the hospital or other such consideration.
The lawn mower decibels which are 90db is higher than the traffic noise which is 80 decibels and according to the Pennsylvania State University, you must not expose yourself to this much noise, especially no longer than eight hours despite any hearing protection.
Lawn Mower Noise:
Although lawn mower decibels are high and a lawn mower is very noisy, but there are some reasons behind the noise. Moreover, the lawn mower sound is linked to how efficiently it cuts the grass. The blades of the lawn mower lift the grass and cut it. To perform their function well, they must rotate at a fast speed. This creates a loud noise. However, there is a lawn mower that has the least lawn mower decibels, which is a reel mower that is unpowered. Otherwise, all lawn mowers are loud.
However, if your lawn mower decibels are not too high or your lawn mower sound is not that loud as it is now, it may be indicating towards loose parts or some trouble. For instance, a loud rattling noise can be the result of loose screws, and tightening the bolts and screws reduce the rattling of the engine against the deck. Another cause may be the rusted or worn out muffler of your lawn mower that results in increased engine noise.
Some muffles are essential for the safe operation of the lawn mower, therefore, before buying a new muffler make sure that the new one performs well. Moreover, make sure you always turn off the lawn mower before any maintenance.
Tips to soften the sound:
As you know that the lawn mower decibels are quite higher as compared to the normal conversation, you may want to reduce it to make it easy for yourself and others, but it will be costly especially if you want to get perfect results. But still, it is not guaranteed that you will get those results.
However, you can try reducing the lawn mower sound by installing exhaust systems or custom mufflers and if you want to test your skills, try reconfiguring the cooling system by replacing it with a water-cooled system. You can also use mats to reduce the lawn mower noise by reducing the vibration of the lawn mower considerably.
In addition to these costly solutions, let’s find out some practical solutions to reduce the lawn mower sound. Following are the solutions to soften the noise of your lawn mower:
Hearing Protection:
One of the easiest and perfect solutions for reducing the sound of your loud lawn mower is buying good hearing protection. The reason is that you must prevent hearing loss induced by the noise and for that, you can eliminate the noise-producing source or what you can is reduce that noise.
Thus, you can wear hearing protectors to prevent noise from reaching and damaging your ears. It is also recommended that you must use hearing protectors while lawn mowers and also when you are in a noisy workspace that exceeds the normal decibels, i.e., 85 decibels.
Moreover, the most important thing to consider is that your hearing protectors must fit properly to benefit from its effectiveness. If you are considering your headphones or radio earphones to be the hearing protectors, sadly they won’t work because even the continuous use of headphones can exceed the damaging effects of even a noisy lawn mower.
Therefore, to provide you the best options, below are given some hearing protectors that you should use.
Ear Muffs:
Ear-muffs are great for hearing protection as they feature sound minimizing material. Moreover, the ear cuffs are comfortable to use because of the ear cushions that are soft enough for your ears and fit perfectly. The outer cups of the soft cushions are hard and are connected by a headband that allows a perfect fit along with protecting your ears from the noise.
Earplugs:
You may know that you insert earplugs into the ear canal; this gives good protection against noise. Moreover, you can get earplugs that are custom-molded, reusable, moldable foam, or pre-molded earplugs.
ZEM Hearing Protection:
ZEM hearing protection is like snorkels on the ear. The tube acts as an ear canal extension that is larger in diameter as compared to the ear canal. The ZEM hearing protection works by drawing sound waves with less resistance and then directing the sound waves away from your ear canal.
Semi-insert earplugs:
Semi-insert earplugs are similar to earplugs. They consist of small soft tips that are inserted into the ear canal opening. However, Semi-insert earplugs consist of small caps that are placed on the opening of the canal and are connected by a band that holds the caps in place.
Lawn Mower Maintenance:
Old lawn mowers need more maintenance and if not provided properly, lawn mower becomes too noisy as compared to the new ones. You must look for the squeaks, rattles, and knocks. Noise may have many causes such as loose bolts that cause the engine to rattle. Another reason may be the rusted muffler.
Similarly, if you don’t lubricate the movable teeth of the lawn mower, they rub and stuck on the cups spinning with the engine. To keep your lawn mower working efficiently, you must check and lubricate the parts from time to time and also keep in check the worn-out parts that need to be replaced.
You must keep the following things on your maintenance checklist:
- Makes sure that the muffler doesn’t have any holes in it and its bolts are not loose
- Securely fasten all the covers
- Check the blades and replace them if they are worn out or hit against the guards
- Make a sure working condition of the throttle control is good
- Keep in check all the above-mentioned points so that your lawn mower can start and run efficiently because if it is not working efficiently, it will require high revolutions, making more noise.
If you are concerned about the lawn mower decibels, consider buying a battery-powered or an electric lawn mower. Most electric lawn mower decibel level is around 75 dB. This decibel is considered safe without any hearing protection.
Battery-powered or electric lawn mower:
Although, the electric lawn mowers are less noisy as compared to the gas ones, these are also expensive and you need to handle its cords as well. Moreover, battery-powered lawn mowers need to be charged fully and still run short on battery and duration. The reason is that lawn mower wheels and blades require much power. Moreover, you need two batteries mostly.
Push-Reel Mower:
Another solution to having less noise while cutting the grass is the push-reel lawn mower. It is very quiet as compared to the gas lawn mowers. You will love the quiet surrounding while using the push-reel lawn mower and you can mow the lawn anytime without disturbing anyone.
The noise of the lawn mower is just because of the blades that come together to cut the grass. If you own a small yard, a push-reel lawn mower would be a peace of mind.
Large mufflers/sound absorptive material:
Lawn mowers are becoming better day by day. One such example is the range of features that lawn mowers come equipped with. These features are aimed at reducing the noise produced by the lawn mowers. The features include sound-absorptive material, new blade design improved mufflers, damping the components of the body, and lining the vibrating surfaces.
You just need to find out which lawn mowers come with these amazing features and buy the one you like.
Europe Markets:
Different states have different rules concerning noise. Europe has very strict laws in terms of noise. Therefore, lawn mowers that are built for Europe are meant to abide by the rules. There are changes in the manufacturing of the lawn mowers if you compare those of the USA and Europe. Two major differences lie in blade design and engine speed.
Blade Design:
The blades of lawn mowers in the USA are straight and there is a built-in curve to produce airflow that moves the clippings into the grass bag. This is what produces noise as well. The lawn mowers in Europe, on the other hand, feature wider blades that are heavier and larger, thus, reducing the noise significantly. Although, wide blades require more power to spin Europe customers are okay with it.
Engine Speed:
The blades of lawn mowers in Europe are directly bolted to the crankshaft. This allows the engine to run at a slower speed, thus producing less noise. Although this affects the cut quality concerning the noise laws in Europe, these are widely used, despite the slightly low cut quality.
Conclusion:
Lawn mower decibels is an important thing to consider if you are concerned about the noise that lawn mower produces. Although lawn mowers vary significantly in their decibel levels, there are also ways by which you can reduce the lawn mower sound. You must check those ways and implement them to protect your ears from noise-induced damage.