Member- Aug 21, 2014
- 5,049
- Tinnitus Since
- 1999
- Cause of Tinnitus
- karma
hi @tinmandan -- I haven't posted here in quite a while, but your post is specific enough to my own interests that I figured I'd login and reply, could not login, and had to make a new account!
Anyway, I'm in sort of the reverse situation, because I've had bad tinnitus for about a decade, and as of this spring am in a situation where life requires chainsaws. I started by getting a Makita 14" 36v LiON electric, and that's actually been a lot more hardcore than I expected (LiON tech has come a long way in the past few years). However, it's actually not really any quieter than a 14" gas saw (I used a dB meter to check mine vs my dad's gas saw, both are around ~90db cutting air, and 100-105db cutting through wood). This has been fine for me so far, always using plugs and usually slapping muffs on over them, as well -- no changes noticed to my tinnitus. The basic noise level is about the same as running my mower or my motorcycle, and all those things have been "fine", with the caveat that I don't do them for more than about an hour straight without a break.
The Makita has been fine for messing around with carving, using ~3-4' sections of pine that are ~18-24" thick. (Cats are more my thing than bears, for what it's worth). Obviously, for some stuff you're going to want a bigger saw, and if you've got a lot of experience using big saws, it might be hard to talk yourself into an electric, or a smaller gas saw. I think that some of the really hardcore gas saws are much louder, though; I had two trees that were beyond my ability to deal with, so I hired someone with a giant $600 Husqvarna to come do it, and that thing was loud enough that it made me reach for ear protection even though I was sitting 40' from where he was cutting.
I expect to get some kind of 16-18" gas saw in the next year or two, as I would like to be able to deal with bigger trees than I can now, but I will do homework, test them out with a dB meter, and I'm going to be very cautious about getting anything louder than what I'm already dealing with.
Just my experience; hope this helps!
Anyway, I'm in sort of the reverse situation, because I've had bad tinnitus for about a decade, and as of this spring am in a situation where life requires chainsaws. I started by getting a Makita 14" 36v LiON electric, and that's actually been a lot more hardcore than I expected (LiON tech has come a long way in the past few years). However, it's actually not really any quieter than a 14" gas saw (I used a dB meter to check mine vs my dad's gas saw, both are around ~90db cutting air, and 100-105db cutting through wood). This has been fine for me so far, always using plugs and usually slapping muffs on over them, as well -- no changes noticed to my tinnitus. The basic noise level is about the same as running my mower or my motorcycle, and all those things have been "fine", with the caveat that I don't do them for more than about an hour straight without a break.
The Makita has been fine for messing around with carving, using ~3-4' sections of pine that are ~18-24" thick. (Cats are more my thing than bears, for what it's worth). Obviously, for some stuff you're going to want a bigger saw, and if you've got a lot of experience using big saws, it might be hard to talk yourself into an electric, or a smaller gas saw. I think that some of the really hardcore gas saws are much louder, though; I had two trees that were beyond my ability to deal with, so I hired someone with a giant $600 Husqvarna to come do it, and that thing was loud enough that it made me reach for ear protection even though I was sitting 40' from where he was cutting.
I expect to get some kind of 16-18" gas saw in the next year or two, as I would like to be able to deal with bigger trees than I can now, but I will do homework, test them out with a dB meter, and I'm going to be very cautious about getting anything louder than what I'm already dealing with.
Just my experience; hope this helps!
