did a little scything!

[akyramoto]

WAnted to share a pic of some scything I did this morning.

I used anything that was weedy or some strange grass ( or really short) and mulched VERY thickly around some trees & along the fence - an area I want to plant hay someday -So i want existing vegetation killed off with out spraying.

the long weed free grasses I raked into a little windrow for drying. depending on the quality it will be donkey hay.

feels so much more productive than just mowing!!

[akyramoto]

hay drying


all rolled up for the night!

[farmerlon]

looks good; that's something I have wanted to try.
what Scythe do you use... an "antique" or something newer that you found?

[thanrose]

That's what I was wondering. Looks more like something that forms neater rows than swinging arms would provide.

Still very satisfying work, I'd venture.

[akyramoto]

I have a 'new' scythe lol. well new as in it was made this year, but an old design. I use a European scythe - has a hickory bent snath and a 22" Austrian grass blade. European scythes are much lighter than American style scythes - and due to their design they're much easier to use - i.e. you don't swing it like a golf club lol. I started having an interest in making a bit of hay, making parts of my land more productive, and I found that a scythe is the easiest way to 'hand make' hay. I got my scythe online - I also watched all the videos I could find online on how to use it and sharpen it.

I actually made a little video of me using it, I'm still very new to it, so I'm not perfect at using it. But it's really neat to see how efficient it can be!

warning, it's a point of view video, so there's quite a bit of camera movement sometimes, just warning you lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkViJ25XDJA

[stella1751]

That's an impressive and informative video, akyramoto! I have an old scythe setting around, a huge metal thing that's probably 30 or 40 year's old. I don't see myself ever actually using it, but I always wondered how those work.

Your video is almost hypnotic. Way to go back to the land and reduce your carbon footprint to zero

[akyramoto]

wow thanks! there are some great vids on youtube of scything, there is something very calming about the 'swish, swish, swish' of the scythe cutting the grass.I love it, nothing like hearing the birds sing while you 'mow'!

[farmerlon]

Thanks for the info, and for the video you posted... that's all very helpful.

I like the way that you're "floating" the scythe along the surface. For some reason, I had always imagined using a scythe on taller vegetation, with more of a "chopping" action. Your video was a real "eye opener" for me. That technique looks so much more efficient than what I had envisioned.

[akyramoto]

I like the way that you're "floating" the scythe along the surface. For some reason, I had always imagined using a scythe on taller vegetation, with more of a "chopping" action. Your video was a real "eye opener" for me. That technique looks so much more efficient than what I had envisioned.

that's more the 'american' style. the blades aren't curved like a European blade and the snaths are quite heavy. thus needing to really 'whack' the vegetation with it. lol

When ever I'm scything and I really start to feel like I'm really 'working', I stop and sharpen my blade, then it goes back to being smooth and easy

[Kisal]

I lived with my grandparents, and my grandfather used a scythe to cut the weeds on the bank of the creek that ran alongside our property. My cousin and I cut back the weeds with sickles once a week, when we mowed the lawn. We couldn't really keep up with it, though, so he took the scythe to it about once a month. (He didn't really want us kids messing around there, anyway, because of the snapping turtles and water moccasins.)

He sometimes used the scythe with the cradle, if the weeds had gotten really tall. I could barely lift the thing in those days, and swinging it would have been impossible. Probably would have cut off my foot.