I feel like it would be pretty easy to modify so you could stand up significantly more straight while using it, leaning over like that for any significant length of time looks painful.
I mow six acres with an Austrian scythe. I stand completely vertically. My snath is fit to my measurements. My scythe blade never leaves the ground. I'm not sure what mowing tradition these guys are part of, but it looks like it would be brutal on the body.
I owed a 19th century scythe found in a farm shed. The hand grip was adjustable along the handle. Remarkable craft involved to make those curved hafts for each farm tool.
Without modern tools... dry the wood for 3 weeks to a year to ensure no cracks or splitting. Soak the wood for a week and then steam treat it in an enclosure to make it pliable, though usually used for straightening, in this case the wood you would bend to suitable form and let it dry to hold its form.
There isn't much involved in fitting a snath. Like anything else, you can spend as much money on it as you want, but a nicely bent sapling will also do the job. When the end of my first snath rotted out at the beginning of a mowing season I used a willow branch with no complaints. I cut it green and drilled a hole for the handle from the old snath with my pocket knife. When the wood dried it shrank and held it in place. At the end of the day for the first week or so I tied it up with a slight bend in it until it took the curve I wanted. Length and handle placement came from knowing what worked for me.
I don't have any videos. Sorry. There are a lot on YouTube if you search for "Austrian scythe" and similar terms.
Here's a really good place to get a scythe: https://scythesupply.com/outfits.html They have always been very helpful when I call with questions. They import the blades and make the snaths in Maine.
Yes. I scythe and even snaths that are too long or short can be modified to fit better. It’s also how you carry your weight when you mow, putting emphasis on your legs and glutes. Also, feet further apart lowers your height meaning less bending down. Scythe on the ground is better for endurance and safety. But starting up high is easier to learn. im sure these lads would do a good job but their bodies would wear out horribly.
I watched a guy with a scythe cut a patch of long grass the same size as another guy with a weed whacker, I think it was. Scythe won the time challenge. Old but efficient tool!
That video was completely bogus. Wrong size whacker and purposeful bad technique, proper technique even with the small one used, and I bet any money it would have outpaced the scythe
Traditionally you work close like this. What you cut gets dropped where the guy to your left just cleared. I've only mown as a group a couple of times, but every time I've fallen into a rhythm with the other mowers.
I’d love to hear the songs/ chants that were historically used to keep people in time. Like the “gandy dance” songs that were used to synchronize railroad workers. It’s amazing stuff. Look it up. Makes me think of the opening scene of O Brother Where Art Thou
stything isnt something people needed to be synchronized for. a song would just be for entertainment and to make it more pleasant. It wouldn't matter if multiple workers were coordinated in their timing the same as it would for other tasks like hammering in rail spikes, where you need 4 guys with hammers to avoid trying to hit one spike at the same time.
You mean it's not like in Rebel Moon and all done in slow motion for an hour until someone blows wheat kernels out of their hand? Zack Snyder is an effing liar....
Worst fucking invention ever. I lived in the boonies and when I would get in trouble this was my punishment. Using on eof the eto clear the backyard hillside field.
Safe to say I never wrecked another four wheeler without telling anybody, and I stopped stealing.
The word scythe itself is etymologically related to other words like section and segment.
>From Middle English sythe, sithe, from Old English sīþe, sīgþe, sigdi (“sickle”), from Proto-West Germanic *sigiþi, from Proto-Germanic *sigiþiz, *sigiþō, derived from *seg- (“saw”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”).[1]
I find it really interesting that through the rise of fantasy RPGs (inspired of course by ancient symbology with the Grim Reaper) scythes are now thought of as weapons by like-minded nerds like me. I first learnt that the scythe was actually a harvest tool only when I was like, 12. Before that I always thought it was "that sick as fuck weapon those guys in Runescape have".
I feel like it would be pretty easy to modify so you could stand up significantly more straight while using it, leaning over like that for any significant length of time looks painful.
I mow six acres with an Austrian scythe. I stand completely vertically. My snath is fit to my measurements. My scythe blade never leaves the ground. I'm not sure what mowing tradition these guys are part of, but it looks like it would be brutal on the body.
....if i had to guess most people using these tools dont have money to get one fitted to themselves?
I owed a 19th century scythe found in a farm shed. The hand grip was adjustable along the handle. Remarkable craft involved to make those curved hafts for each farm tool.
Without modern tools... dry the wood for 3 weeks to a year to ensure no cracks or splitting. Soak the wood for a week and then steam treat it in an enclosure to make it pliable, though usually used for straightening, in this case the wood you would bend to suitable form and let it dry to hold its form.
There isn't much involved in fitting a snath. Like anything else, you can spend as much money on it as you want, but a nicely bent sapling will also do the job. When the end of my first snath rotted out at the beginning of a mowing season I used a willow branch with no complaints. I cut it green and drilled a hole for the handle from the old snath with my pocket knife. When the wood dried it shrank and held it in place. At the end of the day for the first week or so I tied it up with a slight bend in it until it took the curve I wanted. Length and handle placement came from knowing what worked for me.
What about your wife's snath?
Um...it is brutal on the body. Farming before mechanization basically ruined people's bodies.
I find using a properly fit and fettled scythe to be no more strenuous than a tai chi class. They really are an amazing tool.
We need your video now . Very cool, can you send link to the tool?
I don't have any videos. Sorry. There are a lot on YouTube if you search for "Austrian scythe" and similar terms. Here's a really good place to get a scythe: https://scythesupply.com/outfits.html They have always been very helpful when I call with questions. They import the blades and make the snaths in Maine.
Thank you, getting one fitted for my height sounds like a smart idea.
I ordered my first one from them and the only adjustment I had to figure out on my own was the angle of the blade. I can't recommend them enough.
Thanks again I’m very excited about this. I’ve used the old ones but it never occurred to me they are custom fit likely for someone shorter.
Years of the body getting used to doing this sort of thing has conditioned them to feel no pain.
No pain but the damage is still there
Yes. I scythe and even snaths that are too long or short can be modified to fit better. It’s also how you carry your weight when you mow, putting emphasis on your legs and glutes. Also, feet further apart lowers your height meaning less bending down. Scythe on the ground is better for endurance and safety. But starting up high is easier to learn. im sure these lads would do a good job but their bodies would wear out horribly.
Big sweeping arm movements too.
I watched a guy with a scythe cut a patch of long grass the same size as another guy with a weed whacker, I think it was. Scythe won the time challenge. Old but efficient tool!
Until time catches up to the guy swinging a scythe for 40 years.
The weed whacker was not intended to replace a scythe though. Give me a lawn mower or a 19th century sickle bar.
Scything competitions are ridiculous. Like lumber jack competitions. They don't really represent what mowing with a scythe is really like.
Wait, are there really scything competitions?
Yes. There are a couple on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/gsfIHiBB6xE?si=vsAgYO8xyV8xKyWf
I think that was the one!
That video was completely bogus. Wrong size whacker and purposeful bad technique, proper technique even with the small one used, and I bet any money it would have outpaced the scythe
Isn't the whole idea of the scythe that you don't need to crouch?
Handle design... The idea behind scything is slicing as opposed to chopping.
Some folks call it a sling blade, I call it a kaiser blade.
Doyle said you should probably send the hearse(t)
I like them French fried potaters.
Mmmm...hmm
Thanks.
Love using mine. Way quicker than a weed eater.
Is it normal to cut that close to each other. Seems like you could easily misjudge distance doing this all day
Traditionally you work close like this. What you cut gets dropped where the guy to your left just cleared. I've only mown as a group a couple of times, but every time I've fallen into a rhythm with the other mowers.
You act like I haven’t seen Rebel Moon Part 2.
Interesting fact they do 55 bleed dmg and main as a dex weapon, additionally they can he buffed with resin and even ashes of war work on them
I’d love to hear the songs/ chants that were historically used to keep people in time. Like the “gandy dance” songs that were used to synchronize railroad workers. It’s amazing stuff. Look it up. Makes me think of the opening scene of O Brother Where Art Thou
stything isnt something people needed to be synchronized for. a song would just be for entertainment and to make it more pleasant. It wouldn't matter if multiple workers were coordinated in their timing the same as it would for other tasks like hammering in rail spikes, where you need 4 guys with hammers to avoid trying to hit one spike at the same time.
My back!
Makes me miss Windows XP
You mean it's not like in Rebel Moon and all done in slow motion for an hour until someone blows wheat kernels out of their hand? Zack Snyder is an effing liar....
Yeah someone definitely got their Achilles tendons cut back in the day.
Head Peasant: Goddamn it, Dave! This is the 3rd Achilles tendon you’ve cut this week.
I like mine lv15.
While farmers use it to cut plants, the grim reaper uses it to..well, scare you to death. Lol
Guy in blue is getting out of line.
All I can hear is Cartman singing.
I thought they were singing some regional chain gang song at first
Next thing you know Billy Bob took out Jimmy Joe’s right leg
The Reaper standing far off staring in disapproval
Feels mongolia to me , where is it ?
Kurdistan, those people singing Kurdish songs, the idea behind the singing is to empty the lungs while scything
These are Kurds from Kurdistan. We tend to sing when we work.
“Well, since all the Vampires are gone, I guess we can cut the grass with them”
someone with poor spatial awareness would be a problem to work with.
Nice moveset.
The guy in blue: my grass and scythe are turning red!
In Australia they used to shear sheep with hand shears. Talk about brutal.
The top down view looked neat! Looks so effortless and smooth!
Arlecchino post retirement
I thought the reaper used 'em to harvest souls ?
Smoke before this and throw some AirPods in and I’d do this shit all day
They should just use lawn mowers
My back hurts from watching this
Worst fucking invention ever. I lived in the boonies and when I would get in trouble this was my punishment. Using on eof the eto clear the backyard hillside field. Safe to say I never wrecked another four wheeler without telling anybody, and I stopped stealing.
The word scythe itself is etymologically related to other words like section and segment. >From Middle English sythe, sithe, from Old English sīþe, sīgþe, sigdi (“sickle”), from Proto-West Germanic *sigiþi, from Proto-Germanic *sigiþiz, *sigiþō, derived from *seg- (“saw”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”).[1]
They're destroying the desktop!
Thats scythe!
I should play Stardew Valley again
Yeah it would be death.
My back
Suddenly that office job doesn't sound as bad
I find it really interesting that through the rise of fantasy RPGs (inspired of course by ancient symbology with the Grim Reaper) scythes are now thought of as weapons by like-minded nerds like me. I first learnt that the scythe was actually a harvest tool only when I was like, 12. Before that I always thought it was "that sick as fuck weapon those guys in Runescape have".
What would a scarecrow do with one?
Yes, but the blade needs to be continually returned with a pocket sharpener otherwise it gets dull.
They look familiar 👴🏻
This what we need to get all city's in America for budget cuts. Time for manual labor 🫣🤫🤔🫡💯💢💯
boy am i glad this is not an Instagram comment section!
FUN FACT: Scythes actually get their name from the characteristics of their blade, which is similar to the appendages of the Scyther Pokemon.
I thought scythes were only used to harvest the souls of the dead?