How long to scythe an acre

I have 3 European type scythes, all with different blade types and lengths suited for particular purposes. I consider myself an experienced hand mower.

I am a farrier as well as a blacksmith, in good health and physical condition. I use my scythes daily, in season, but your claim of being able to mow an acre or two in a few hours, certainly doesn't apply to me or anyone else I know. Your claim struck me so, I had to google it. Join us for a much anticipated return to the Lone Star State!

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That's why we want you to save money and trees by subscribing through our earth-friendly automatic renewal savings plan. Mowing With a Scythe: Proper Equipment and Technique Mowing with a scythe, though requiring greater skill than using a fuel-driven mower, can be done over varied and rocky terrain.

With the proper tool and correct scything technique, one can mow an acre or two of grass in a few hours. Cover courtesy Chelsea Green Publishing. Mowing With a Scythe Of all the hand-powered land development and maintenance tools I have used, the scythe is probably the most effective in terms of amount of work yielded per amount and quality of time spent performing the work.

Continue Reading. Originally Published: September Share your thoughts. Related Content. The short answer is yes, they can. Human bodies, as we know, are relatively flexible and we can bend, stretch and work in all sorts of less-than-comfortable positions. Thousands of acres of grass have been mown with less than well-sized scythes, by the way. Most of it, of course, with suitably sharp blades! The model sold by Lee Valley Tools, designed long ago for work in steep Alpine terrain, is one of them.

So the longer answer is this: It is far better to have the scythe be fine-tuned to each person, AND the work expected of it. A digest of what we expound on in more detail elsewhere :. In our opinion ANY scythe is worth restoring. Old snaths, if termite eaten or partially fungi-digested, may be beyond restoration; a scythe blade, however rusty or abuse-damaged can mostly be repaired and used again.

How soon? Well, God only knows. Website disentanglement aided by mr office. As a brief summary: i Some plants are several times more difficult to cut than others — and what is often confusing during the process of learning is that they may not look like it. Can a short lawn be cut with a scythe? However, lawns are not all the same. Furqan Domernicht Pundit. Are scythes legal? If you feel the need to throw some fire around, you are legally allowed to purchase a flamethrower under federal law , and 40 states have no laws against owning the weapon.

Nadeem Frenzen Pundit. What is a snath? The snath is the long, wooden shaft the blade attaches to. It carries the handles the mower grips when using the scythe.

Our snaths are made from light weight ash. The handles are birch and the stem for the lower handle is maple. Bong Hoemann Pundit. Is a scythe an AXE? As nouns the difference between scythe and ax.

Wasila Wehrlin Pundit. What is the difference between a sickle and a scythe? The main difference between Sickle and Scythe is that the Sickle is a agricultural tool and Scythe is a agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or reaping crops. A scythe is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or reaping crops. Hrant Ruttman Teacher. Can a scythe be used as a weapon? Well, people have used scythes or more accurately, sickles as weapons in combat. As for the advantages, the form of the weapon gives you a pretty good grip for slashing, and the perpendicular blade is good for hooking much like and axe or halberd would be used , which is useful when facing people with shields.

Nouzha Seah Beginner. How tall should I cut my grass? A Rule of Thumb. Jerson Friedemann Beginner. How can I cut my grass without a lawnmower? Ditto all the comments about form and sharpness and taking it slow -- a scythe is all about the quality of the tool and your developing skill and understanding.

It has taken me around 3 years to start to feel like I understand what I am doing--and I hurt my back doing stupid things. I have bone spurs on my toe, but no stress there. I haven't noticed any knee strain, very little impact and very gentle excercise--should be better than walking.

Now it is soooo painful to watch a newbie pick up a scythe and start whacking away. Phil Hawkins. Howdy, I am new to scythes, and it isn't hard work, but it can be frustrating - the problem is it looks so easy, but it's not so easy as it looks. I am sure that like most things, practice makes perfect, and the you'll see a lot of improvement in the early stages. I know my personal bad habit is I tend to raise the blade towards the end of the stroke, so I leave a series of crescent shapes in the lawn.

That reminds me - I need to get up early tomorrow and get mowing! Peony Jay. Any helpful info on clearing bush with a scythe? Everything I have read about scythes suggests keeping them away from anything that isn't grass or maybe something like reeds. I know when I have had 'accidents' involving striking something more substantial, I have to sharpen the blade again.

When I have had to clear out small type plants, I find long handled ratchet loppers will take care of anything up to about an inch and a half, after which an axe is your best bet. The loppers will usually let me get to the "trunk". Removing the stump is best done with a combination of an axe and a crow bar. Again, all of this is my personal recommendation based on my own experiences - yours and others may differ.

If it's much more than grass, I would use a bush axe. More versitle and easier to sharpen. Speaking of being easier to sharpen, I never use a chainsaw less than 6" from ground level as there's just too much dirt down there and it blunts a chain amazingly fast. It will blunt an axe too, but they are quick to put an edge on in the field, particularly if you maintain a good edge. Thought you all might like an update on my situation as you were kind enough to give advise. Got my scythe from from Scythe Supply in the mail last week.

They were very fast at filling my order and getting it to me. I ordered the package that included a blade, a snath, a peening jig, a sharpening stone with metal holder and "The Scythe Book. I have so many questions now that I fear can only be answered by someone who knows what and how to do watching me try to do, if you know what I mean.

I know I'm letting the blade get up off the ground way to much, my stance is likely all wrong and I sometimes take too big a 'bite' out of the standing grass. But the other questions that can't really be answered here or by watching YouTube video's or even this cool one of Brian Kerkvliet that Paul recently posted: am I using too much or too little pressure when I use the stone on the blade?

Am I sharpening it often enough, Not often enough or too often? Should I peen it yet? Am I really standing right or do I just think I am? So much to learn, to figure out. I'm trying to make sure that folks around my small town less than people within the city limits! The up side is that badly as I am mowing, I am mowing! I'm getting exercise and if it stay's dry for a couple of more days, perhaps even a tiny bit of hay to put aside for my goats to eat later in the year. Then there are the activity points I'm racking up for Weight Watchers!