Scything....

[hbmcc]

I keep seeing Steve Tomlin teaching people to scythe. The presumption is they pay to learn. Now, if that's not a racket I don't know what is. Someone pays to beat themselves to a pulp cleaning your weedy ditch.

First, my tool, despised to every square inch of sticker bush, venomous species of razor blade grass, blah-blah, was dull. The proper sharpening stone was no longer available, so we found a convenient boulder. Then, I suppose one could learn to swing smoothly--in a field of grain--but nasty weeds aren't made for the tool. Oh, the memories.

Here's a link to the crook's blog site. Send them a derisive raspberry.

https://stevetomlincrafts.wordpress.com/...h-cumbria/

[hbmcc]

Just joking. ....

Sort of.

[andrewb]

I was just sharpening mine up a few weeks ago in order to clear a ditch behind my house that is technically on my neighbor's property.  I've waited since then in hopes that neighbor will take care of it before I do...  No such luck it seems.  Only going to be 106 out tomorrow so I don't think this weekend is going to see me out there swinging away.

My first memory of one was as a teen many years ago.  I'd gotten in a significant amount of trouble one summer doing stupid teen things and so was grounded for the rest of the summer.  Dad handed me a (dull) scythe and told me to go clear the ditch and the horse pasture (was only about an acre).  A few hours into it one day a jogger passing by asked why I wasn't using a weedeater.  I looked at him and he just said "Oh..." and kept on going before I threw the scythe at him.  Many lessons got learned that summer, one of them eventually was how to sharpen a scythe.  Pretty sure I ended up having to paint a garage and the front porch on the house before the summer was up.

[Steve N]

Only have one thing to say about all of that. I'd have shown his lazy behind a picture just like this one.

[wood2woodknot]

Lucky duck.........could have been handed a hand sickle instead.

[cwarner]

Interesting comparison.

https://youtu.be/gsfIHiBB6xE

[MichaelMouse]

Used both, plus an idjot stick at various times.  The scythe is not the tool for uneven terrain, because of the amount of body that goes into every stroke.  Fortunately, grain and hay fields are fairly flat.

[Steve N]

Interesting comparison.

https://youtu.be/gsfIHiBB6xE

Wanna see that dood clear a ditch filled with wild tree switches, and uneven ground, with that thing. Flat open field, uniform grain sure, but if that field was a mile long instead of 60 feet do you think the  muscle, or the motor would have won out?

Besides that scyth comes in one flavor.

Things that go whipping grasses with a motor come like I already posted that you swing back and forth.

Or you push



Some of these are self propelled, so you just have to point em.




Or shoot, if you have a tractor you can hook one  of these up, and after cutting the hay, it then moves the cut hay to a nice tidy row, where a day later you can come back and bail it back up.





Would love to see Scythman do this field, reckon he would be tuckered out a wee bit. Even if he adds horses, he'll always under preform against a motor on  a long days work.

[hbmcc]

Interesting comparison.

https://youtu.be/gsfIHiBB6xE

  But look at the tool he is using; and the internal combustion engine behind the swing.

I like scything the lawn, too.

I hate YouTube links.... An hour later, why am I here?

Steve, you just don't appreciate the power of human energy. I didn't see scythe vs tractor-pulled mower.

[hbmcc]

Lucky duck.........could have been handed a hand sickle instead.