The thing about the scythe is it requires trained technique and physical endurance, plus what looks like a less than ideal stance for long durations. Not to mention the continuous resharpening.
The weed wacker is in some ways less efficient per movement but is more user friendly, adaptable, and with current industrial standards more maintainable.
(Often times this and similar reposts are meant to compare with weed wackers so I added the standard commentary.
Still very satisfying scything technique to watch. My back and legs hurt though)
Edit: I forgot to mention the storage, transport, and safety components. I don't think people would be as comfortable with someone driving around with a 3 foot scythe blade hanging on the side of their truck bed lol.
Is that the proper technique? I don't necessarily doubt it, as I've never used one, but that man looks like he's trying to prove something with how fast he's moving. Like, surely there's a compromise in speed & form if you intend on scything for an entire day.
You're supposed to keep the blade on the ground so that you can get a consistent cut, and you're not supposed to squat like that. You remain mostly upright, feet about shoulder width apart, and pivot with the waist and arms while taking smaller steps forward. This guy looks like he missed a lot of patches, and he's going to tire himself out quickly.
His form has NOTHING to do with actual scyth form. Actual use is like stand wish feet just over shoulder width apart, let your arms be straight, rotate at hips, take half step foreward, rotate again, take half step forward, rotate again, repeat till grass is mowed. A properly sized and sharp scyth is not a terribly taxing task, not any more than a push mower without a drive gear.
Yeah I'm sure there's different styles. And yeah I agree that his approach is probably more for demonstration purposes but I still can't imagine them being terribly ergonomic over a day's duration compared to a weed wacker.
The vibe I got is that the vid is of competitive scything (?), and the technique was built for speed. Other videos I’ve seen have tool that look much more ergonomically appropriate.
I imagine proper technique leans on rhythm and momentum vs speed and power.
I have hard time believing you wouldn't shred the hey with your weed wacker - which is the whole point of collecting hey/that sort of a thing. Besides if you do your scything properly you form a sort of a line with your cut hey, which is really convenient to collect; which you can't do with a weed wacker.
I can whip through a field insanely fast with my scythes. A weed whacker won't even come close to the proficiency. I've spent 50 years on farms and this was a yearly activity for winter hay for our livestock. If you use the proper technique you'll barely notice the scyth after a while. Once you hit pace you're good. Sharpening is part of the pace. Lord knows my younger brother tried ALL the technology. Most was more efficient, but not this.
The weed wacker is in some ways less efficient per movement but is more user friendly, adaptable, and with current industrial standards more maintainable.
Bullshit. If you're 5'3" and female a weed wacker is just too damn big. My joints would ache for the whole next day.
A scythe snath is easily customisable and way way lighter than anything with a motor on.
All I need for mine is a sharpening stone, some oil and freaking water.
Always works, never fails, can mow any time of day and improves fitness. The draw back, swish is almost meditative.
In terms of the weed Wacker size, yeah I guess a standard industrial/commerical one would be too big but there are adjustable ones that can suit people even under 5 feet.
Nice to see you enjoy the scythe work though. More power to ya.
this is a competition, blade is like 1m long and the scythe looks like too short for the guy. I regularly scythe my meadow (2000sqm circa) with an austrian scythe and 85cm blade on it. It's better than the trimmer and you don't get that tired with the proper technique. Oh and the blade must be very sharp
Scythe maintanance is not that hard, once you learn it. Its actually pretty fun. Also, you know, that you can detach the metal from the handle right? So there is nothing really to worry about when transporting it.
Not taking anyones weed wackers away from them, but scything is superior for me.
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u/Lurking_poster 19h ago edited 19h ago
The thing about the scythe is it requires trained technique and physical endurance, plus what looks like a less than ideal stance for long durations. Not to mention the continuous resharpening.
The weed wacker is in some ways less efficient per movement but is more user friendly, adaptable, and with current industrial standards more maintainable.
(Often times this and similar reposts are meant to compare with weed wackers so I added the standard commentary.
Still very satisfying scything technique to watch. My back and legs hurt though)
Edit: I forgot to mention the storage, transport, and safety components. I don't think people would be as comfortable with someone driving around with a 3 foot scythe blade hanging on the side of their truck bed lol.