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Does anyone use a scythe regularly?

Started by LaneC, April 16, 2020, 11:44:07 PM

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farmfromkansas

My dad had a scythe hanging on the wall of his shed, but I never once saw him get it down and use it.  Lots of times remember him hooking up his #8 John Deere 7' sickle mower. He had a mounted model, had blocks that bolted to the tractor and round shafts that the mower hooked onto. One old antique he ran was a Jayhawk stacker.  He would use a dump rake to windrow the hay, then drive down the windrows till the stacker was full, then dump it on a pile.  My job was to take a pitchfork and move the hay around a little bit and stay on top of the pile, and pack it down with my feet.  Dirty job, and I probably was not the best stacker, but it made hay. Once the top was rounded off, he would tie wire between 2 hedge posts and throw them across the stack to hold the hay down.  
Most everything I enjoy doing turns out to be work

maple flats

My dad mowed the hay for a 25 cow farm, along with 2 brothers thru the 1920's and half way thru the 30's using a scythe. Then they got a 5' sickle bar horse drawn mower. I forget the model#. Then when I was 7 they sold their cows, when the NYS Thruway (Interstate 90) split their farm in half, making it far too long a trip to run the doodlebug tractor, pulling the now shortened pole 5' mower to go around to cut over half of their hay ground. After that dad continued to mow the fields on the north side of the thruway once a year, but the south side grew into brush and is now a woods, over 65 years later.
I now just practice using a scythe enough to re-acquaint myself with it and to trim around a pond once every 2-3 years. I used to trim some fence lines but I now use my weedbadger with a 25" hydraulically driven mower head, mounted on a small diesel tractor. On that there is a joy stick control that extends or retracts the mower head 12". It is mounted on the 3 pt hitch and the mower head extends up the right side so it is at the middle of the tractor, beside the driver. That tractor has 12 speed gearing and I can run it as slow as needed to maintain good control. Much easier and faster than a scythe.
logging small time for years but just learning how,  2012 36 HP Mahindra tractor, 3point log arch, 8000# class excavator, lifts 2500# and sets logs on mill precisely where needed, Woodland Mills HM130Max , maple syrup a hobby that consumes my time. looking to learn blacksmithing.

RAYAR

I own a couple , both hay and brush scythes, and use them on occasion. Knowing how to use and sharpen them is an art unto itself. Also a great body workout.
mobile manual mill (custom build) (mods & additions on-going)
Custom built auto band sharpener (currently under mods)
Husqvarna 50, 61, 254XP (and others)
96 Polaris Sportsman 500
2006 Ranger 4X2 w/cap, manual trans (430,000 Km)

SwampDonkey

I remember mother's uncle well into his senior years still using one of those old scythes out on the perimeter of his field knocking down aspen suckers and hawthorns. He was more stubborn and a tight wad than any man you'll ever come across. ;D Never wanted a wood splitter neither, but didn't mind using one when my uncle brought one along to split his firewood. :D He was a rail road man, and he can't blame it on the depression, he had steady weekly pay. Counting it on the weekend and crying over the interest. Happy tears, not depression.  :D He sure knew how to skin animal fur though, and how to repair it if it was tore up with floss so you'd never see it. He was better than a surgeon of the day, many folks would swear to that.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

K-Guy

I sold mine when the hospital sent me a restraining order , stopping me from hanging around the doors wearing a black robe and holding it!  :D ::)
Nyle Service Dept.
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
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Gere Flewelling

I remember my grandfather used one often.  He was an old potato farmer from northern Maine.  He was retired when I was a young fella.  He used to live with us part of the summer.  He had an old scythe that he always brought with him.  He couldn't bend down very well to pull weeds in the garden, but if that weed was a couple of inches tall it got pruned back with the scythe with the precision of a fine surgeon. He had the hand sharpening thing down to a science.  Just a couple of whips with the stone singing over the blade and that thing would cut even the finest lawn grass with just a swipe.  I can make a scythe work (I still have his) but I can't sharpen it like he could to save my life.  Great memories though.  Thanks! 
Old 🚒 Fireman and Snow Cat Repairman (retired)
Matthew 6:3-4

FairFrank

Quote from: Gere Flewelling on December 15, 2020, 04:33:21 PM
I remember my grandfather used one often.  He was an old potato farmer from northern Maine.  He was retired when I was a young fella.  He used to live with us part of the summer.  He had an old scythe that he always brought with him.  He couldn't bend down very well to pull weeds in the garden, but if that weed was a couple of inches tall it got pruned back with the scythe with the precision of a fine surgeon. He had the hand sharpening thing down to a science.  Just a couple of whips with the stone singing over the blade and that thing would cut even the finest lawn grass with just a swipe.  I can make a scythe work (I still have his) but I can't sharpen it like he could to save my life.  Great memories though.  Thanks!
God, it's so touching! Same as me, I do scythe work sometimes, but nobody did it better like my Grandfather! 

HemlockKing

I might pick me up a scythe for bushes has anyone used them for that before? I imagine I'd wanna buy a old used one or is there new quality ones made?
A1

maple flats

I doubt cutting bushes is very possible with a scythe, at least not with my operating it. Anything over about 1/2" is generally too much, especially if in a group, maybe singly if not hard stemmed.
logging small time for years but just learning how,  2012 36 HP Mahindra tractor, 3point log arch, 8000# class excavator, lifts 2500# and sets logs on mill precisely where needed, Woodland Mills HM130Max , maple syrup a hobby that consumes my time. looking to learn blacksmithing.

DonW

To me my use keeping nettle cut is regular, plus mowing a small patch for hay. Were you to be a beginner, let's say, and you picked up an old scythe and went at it, how many times can we see the scenario above, you've got about zero chance of success and a high chance rejecting and discrediting the whole idea simply because that scythe is likely out of tune at least and not set up for use to suit you. You'd be better off in the absence of instruction, ( probably other than Internet ), beginning with new equipment so you have some standard of how it's meant to be since there's a big difference 'twixt one that'll do and one functions well. 
Hjartum yxa, nothing less than breitbeil/bandhacke combo.

RAYAR

Quote from: HemlockKing on April 09, 2021, 06:15:05 AM
I might pick me up a scythe for bushes has anyone used them for that before?
There are blades for bushes, they are shorter and more stout than a hay blade.
mobile manual mill (custom build) (mods & additions on-going)
Custom built auto band sharpener (currently under mods)
Husqvarna 50, 61, 254XP (and others)
96 Polaris Sportsman 500
2006 Ranger 4X2 w/cap, manual trans (430,000 Km)

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