West Country Scythe Competition 2010: Scythe v Strimmer

[KallyJones]

noisy, smelly and unnecessary.

[KallyJones]

@patrick2586

He kills you not with the string, but the noxious fumes coming out of it :-)

[backyardbean65]

I bet that if you offered the cut grass to livestock they would favour the scythe cut feed.

[Vovk3]

Despite all the hippy bullshit that likes to latch onto great tools such as the scythe, it's still a useful and civilized tool.

[Response166]

Good fun, nice competition :)

[akyramoto]

i love that on the meadow section both were essentially doing th same movement, while the scythe was getting a whole lot more done!!

great vid, thanks for sharing

[ThanksgivingWalk]

I've seen studies showing that people who live in societies where they kept moving, even something as simple as walked everywhere in their village lived longer, healthier, more joyful lives. Using a scythe, bending up and down gardening is so good for the body, the mind, and the spirit! Looks at all that great, natural mulch that can be used in the garden; holding in moisture, decomposing, and feeding all the million different microorganisms that make the soil so healthy.Thanks for sharing!

[logos2600]

I'd like to see the results with the time it takes to sharpen the blade of the scythe taken into consideration

[michelXShawn]

@logos2600 it takes around 10-15 seconds to wet stone it

[logos2600]

@michelXShawn Impressive. I think the trimmer is still useful when you want to cut weeds to the ground though, in an effort to kill them and leave bare ground or mulch, because the string can hit the ground but the scythe blade can't

[michelXShawn]

@logos2600 yeah i agree, scythe might be quick but for how long can you swing it before you exhausted, the trimmer is probably most appropriate for long times, or for less exhausting work.

[GhostDrow]

@michelXShawn The scythe is only faster because it has a bigger cutting surface, but it is A LOT more work... and I would like ti say it takes a while to sharpen a blade, sure it might only take 15 seconds to do it, but you do it every 5 minutes. Plus every week you should be using actual tools, like a hammer and stone etc, to sharpen it instead of just the stone.. which takes a long time.

[michelXShawn]

@GhostDrow yeah, the weedwacker is much more effective. the scythe is time consuming.

[wildseed01]

@GhostDrow The point of the contest is to show that the scythe which has been around for hundreds of years is still a contender. I have both on our farm. Maintenance wise - sharpening, getting fuel etc there is not a lot in it. Work rate there is not a lot between them. Both hard work: scythe a general workout, brushcutter: noise fumes vibration heat from headgear and weight. The scythe wins for me but it is what suits the job and operator.

[dgabbless]

@wildseed01 wait so what do you use the land you trim with the scythe for? i woulda thought if you were planting, youd just rip up all the dirt so you could sow seeds properly, and if you were raising animals theyd eat the grass.

as far as i can tell using a scythe or a strimmer on grass as seen above is purely for looks.

[SquashandEggs]

@michelXShawn unless you man up

[michelXShawn]

@SquashandEggs lol, you know nothing about trimming grass with a sythe then.

[taikodad08]

Shut that dang machine off! What a horrible noise!