hmm..not thought about that. I think I'd like to be able to use something without having to either put petrol in or plug it in. The orchard is quite a way from the house. Thanks for the idea though!
polb, your bit about getting it sharpened. Note what others have said, in a day's use the user would need to sharpen it again at lunchtime before the afternoon's work.
Most of us responders are from the same generation. Joy's Dad would be 111, mine 108, when edged hand tools were the life blood of the countryside and my Grandfather would shave the hairs on his arm before accepting his was sharp. The age when men would scythe a field at a time has gone, so no-one needs to make the tools they'd have demanded.
I was born and brought up on a farm am now 60 me and my twin brother learned how to use and sharpen one by my dad when teenagers. I still have it in my shed and use it four times a year to cut my daughter's embankment. It's hard to learn but practice like everything else you get better good upper body strength is a big help. Father carried a sharpening stone in his pocket as needed sharpened regular those where the days happy memories.
Those were the days @Andy19 ... I grew up on a Suffolk farm where Pa and all the men could use a scythe ... it is a real art, as is sharpening them.
Before you buy a scythe for yourself @polb it might be an idea to find out a bit more and whether it’s something you’re going to be able to get the hang of and have enough strength and stamina to do it for several hours at a time.
Dovefromabove my daughter and son now 40 and 36 years old say the farm was a great upbringing. They learned so much skills and knowledge from the farming community shame it's not as strong for employment now a days for younger generation.
Andy19 Amen. From around the age of 12-13 I'd spend most of my school holidays earning a bit of pocket money in the woods with my Dad. No motorised tools. All axes, handbills and saws, but what a grounding! No home TV until I was 21 - even better.
I think the suggestion of using a brushcutter rather than strimmer would be the most practical option. You still have the noise, but the metal, brushcutter head wouldn't be affected in the same way that a strimmer is.
Sorry KT53 but Brush Cutters and long grass aren't the best of bedfellows? They're OK for brambles and the like but get clogged with grass wound round the head. Even in strimmer mode you need to cut it down in swathes, e.g. 6 inches at a stroke, to also prevent clogging as per the maker's instructions. Although virtually antique, they're not a patch on an Allen Scythe that just lets the grass fall down behind the machine.
Check out Austrian scythes. They are lighter and the handles on the shaft can be adjusted to suit the user. I went on a one-day scything course with the NT and was introduced to this tool. It's all about technique but it makes lovely windrows (lines of cut grass) if used properly. It's significantly kinder to wildlife as they can hear you coming from a particular direction, unlike a strimmer which overwhelms with noise. Also, you are watching where you are walking and cutting so tend to spot creatures before there's a fatality. Check out thescytheshop.co.uk for products and information.
Thanks everyone, really helpful. I like the idea of going on a course as there is no point me buying one if I can't use it! I'll check out the link and also see if the NT are running any near me. I'm guessing it might not be the best time to find a scythe course during a pandemic but you never know. Might have to be for another year!
Cut some of the long grass area this weekend and the started chord on the stimmer broke so only managed to do some of the grass and now need to take the stimmer to be fixed! Very frustrating! The stimmer does come with a blade but the instructions say not to use it on thick grass just things like brambles.
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polb, your bit about getting it sharpened. Note what others have said, in a day's use the user would need to sharpen it again at lunchtime before the afternoon's work.
Most of us responders are from the same generation. Joy's Dad would be 111, mine 108, when edged hand tools were the life blood of the countryside and my Grandfather would shave the hairs on his arm before accepting his was sharp. The age when men would scythe a field at a time has gone, so no-one needs to make the tools they'd have demanded.
When I was in my 30s I could handle an Allen scythe ... but I was what folks around here called ‘a whull Suffolk mawther’.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Cut some of the long grass area this weekend and the started chord on the stimmer broke
Thanks again everyone!