A win for the dark side!

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Not exactly woodwork, per se, but...

Scythe vs. brushcutter

[pmcgee]

Fantastic.

[pmcgee]

[Simplicity]

Jims mowing ,new recruit I think .
When we run out of fossil fuel .

[homesy135]

Thanks for the YouTube link. I don't remember ever seeing a scythe being used.

[code4pay]

Not Jim's but http://www.manwithscythe.com

[scyther]

Hi, Thanks for the link to my site. Are any of you interested in learning how to mow with a scythe, or need a lawn mown or acreage slashed around Maleny way? If so give me a call. My number's on my site www.manwithscythe.com

If you'd like to get a scythe the best in Australia are Marshall and Tony at http://www.scythes.com.au Also, their ceramic whetstones are amazing and may be formed to shape for honing tasks other than scythes.

Regards,
Jeff Keys
a.k.a. Man with Scythe

[Bushmiller]

Skew

Thanks for posting the vid. I have only seen a scythe in use once: When I was a small child, probably about six years old, but the fact I can still remember it means that it made a lasting impression and also Alzheimer's has not really set in.

Regards
Paul

[rhancock]

I used to use a scythe back in the UK as a teenager, about 30 years ago. I helped an old guy and he didn't like machines in the orchard around the geese! I always really enjoyed using the scythe and I'm sure it wasn't as sharp as the one in the video. I don't remember it being as annoying to use as a whipper snipper, but then I was in much better shape back then.

To be fair to the guy in the video, the scythe was replaced by the lawn mower and the combine harvester not the whipper snipper.

[Luke Maddux]

That is awesome... I mean he doesn't just beat him. Even with a couple of mistakes and some severe fatigue it's an absolute walloping!

[RedShirtGuy]

I've used a little one-handed scythe for edging under wire fences and big weed removal before and absolutely loved it.

The OP vid was brilliant, and as a side benefit, the scythe left behind a pretty decent windrow for bailing or at least easier manual roll-up and removal.

Of course, playing devil's advocate...where would the competitors be after 4,6,8 hours? Day after day?

I have to think that The Grim Grass Reaper would still be a little bit in front and, as a human being, one heck of a lot healthier

[NCArcher]

To be fair to the guy in the video, the scythe was replaced by the lawn mower .. not the whipper snipper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I4RNenmfFI

[IanW]

......Of course, playing devil's advocate...where would the competitors be after 4,6,8 hours? Day after day?

I have to think that The Grim Grass Reaper would still be a little bit in front and, as a human being, one heck of a lot healthier

Healthier, yes, but the machines got in front, waaay in front, in the end! My old bloke was a wizard with a scythe, he never wasted a single movement, just pure fluid grass-chomping grace to watch. But he was happy to get out the tractor and mower if anything more than a quarter acre needed cutting. Scythes are tools I never managed to use properly, partly because I didn't need to, I suppose, but they just won't work right, in my hands.

The generation before me was a tough bunch. I went cane-cutting at 19, with my old pot, who'd been a cutter in the 30's when it was cut 'green' (that was nasty work!). He was amazing to watch at that, too, never wasting an ounce of unnecessary effort. The first year we cut together, he would always finish his row, then turn around and work back towards me, floundering along in his wake. I used to resent that - it was like a silent rebuke, though I know it wasn't meant to be. Anyways, by the middle of the second year we cut together, I could catch up to him (by about Wednesday). A 20 yr old definitely has a bit more energy to burn than a 50 yr old!

Cheers,

[pmcgee]

Are you in this, Ian?

[IanW]

I reckon that clip was made about the time I was a twinkle in the eye, Paul!

But it gives you the idea. Not sure if the blokes in the movie are 'real' cutters or actors, we used a very different style of cutting. I cut mostly for a mechanical loader (which picked the cane up of the ground & dumped it on the trucks), & we had to chuck 4 rows worth into the one long bundle. For 'shouder loading' you would generally cut just two rows into one, & lay it down in a series of liftable bundles at an angle to the rows, in a way that made them easier to pick up later. Whichever you were cutting for, you'd cut 2 rows at a time, and either drop them obliquely (hand loading) or lay them at right angle to the row. On the 'down' lap, it was relatively easy. We wrapped our left arm around the whole stool, or as much as you could get hold of, whacked it off at the bottom, & balanced it on our left knee to drop it either almost where it was, or rolled it across a bit more from the 'outer' row. Your body was stooped just about the whole time, and you only straightened up for a moment before turning around & coming back up the two other rows. On that lap, both rows had to be scooted across further to lie on the first two rows, so it took a bit more effort. Depending on the length of the cane, & the size of the top, you would either whack it off with a quick hit as the armful went by to hit the ground, butwith tall, straight stuff like they're cutting in your movie clip, we went round after all 4 rows were on the ground & 'topped' them, because it was too awkward to both swing the cane into position & top it at the same time. In good cane like those blokes are cutting, all standing nice & straight, you could knock down 20 plus tons a day each for a loader, which made rather good money for the time. The 'ganger' always set the pace, and everyone was expected to keep up to him, because were wwere paid by the total tonnage cut, and the amount per week was simply divided by the number in the gang. Since the ganger was usually the best cutter in the gang, like my old man, you had to move your butt to keep up, and not waste a single move that wasn't absolutely necessary!

I'm the cocky lout on the Twenty.jpg

The pic was taken 50 years ago this October....

Cheers,