Who else uses a scythe?

Did a little more mowing today. This time there was actually enough for me to be doing some good rather than just blow off steam.


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The rabbits enjoyed the results. :)

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Sorta wish I lived in Maine! Grass here (central KY) is way out of control. I've been cutting fodder for the mules in night paddock for couple of weeks, just to get some non-power mowing time in, and because the silly things will eat just about anything you cut for them even if they are standing in grass up to their bellies -- fun to watch. That was with the Seymour SN1 and 30" grass blade; the weeds need attention too almost, so I'll have the SN9 and weed/brush blade out soon. I don't know if there is any need for pictures of those as they are pretty standard fare.

Today, however, I decided to see if my son had grown into his "wildwood"/hillbilly snath with hybrid blade. I made it for him last fall with a strange blade I found for maybe $4. I think it is a "hybrid" blade, i.e. half-euro design but made like a "US" type blade. It is marked Sweden, and is about 26" long, so reasonable length for a sub-5 footer. My son and I are different enough in size that he can't use my setups, so I made him a snath out of wood we had on hand to see if I understood sizing and to last until he outgrows it. It seems to work very well and he was cutting a pretty good swath when he focused, but he'll need some more practice.

hybrid_full_length.jpg


I used two u-bolts for a clamp:
hybrid_uclamp_top.jpg


The main shaft is a very dense cedar branch that had been in the barn for several years and had a useful bend; I don't know why I saved it originally. Probably not that durable, but he'll outgrow it in a year. The handles are ash I believe, from bean poles/tomato stakes.
hybrid_snath_handles.jpg


Probably an hour of "work" to put it together, so it isn't that fancy and maybe a little sturdier than necessary, but it works well for now.
 
Looks like it's a Banko blade, and indeed a hybrid form but not as you perhaps envision. It's an American-esque Swedish/American hybrid. From what I understand, the Swedes not only produced more true-to-form American pattern blades but also borrowed the American manner of build for some of their own production with the pattern somewhat altered to suit their own stylistic preferences. That one looks to be one of that sort.
 
Thanks 42Blades. That makes a lot of sense. It is stamped out like us blade, but of lighter metal; weighs less than it looks. Takes a nice edge, too. I'm now wondering about the other blade I got with it. It is a 37" grass blade of typical us design, and it seems to say Sweden also, but I might be misreading the stamp, as it is tiny. Neither one seemed to have a lot of use, if any, though the conventional one was rusted more.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Have a photo? :)
Click to expand...

I do now, after the best fashion I could! Good thing I looked. I don't see Sweden where I thought I did, it looks more like "W38". Along the tang is "J?F?G? CO." I am not sure at all about either of these readings!
37stamping.jpg


Here is a full-length picture:
37profile.jpg


I still think the forging on both of these blades looks similar, but that could be just a result of being made at roughly the same time for a similar market :)! If any of it looks familiar, please let me know, as I like to know what I'm using if possible, and the plan is to sharpen it up and put it to work. The paint is not original -- I put in on there after brushing/removing the rust.
 
Not seeing anything under "JFG Co." turn up...any chance you could try taking a rubbing of the mark with paper and crayon? That often clears up any question of it. I might be able to dig something up if I can get the marking confirmed.

I can tell you that looks like domestic production, though.
 
No luck with the rubbing trial (the only thing that was clear was "CO." :)), but it was a good idea. I'll try chalkdust or something else. Whatever it really says (JFG. CO. is as good a guess as I can make right now), my guess is that could be the local proprietor's stamp (e.g. a hardware store) added sometime after manufacturing and that the other stamp is a makers or model mark stamped in from the beginning; just speculation. Thanks for your input.

Update: chalk worked better/easier than expected:
37chalked.jpg


I would like to change my guesses to "J.P.H. CO." and "W*13". I realize that sounds like 2 radical changes, but the stampings are REALLY hard to read. Even with the chalk, I'm not 100%!
 
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That was a huge help, actually! Looks like J.P.H. Co. is correct -- it stands for the John Pritzlaff Hardware Company. So yes, likely produced under contract. Nearly resembles some of the earlier Kelly Works blades, but it could have been made by just about anyone. J.P.H. Co. was founded in 1850 and closed in 1958.
 
Excellent information. I had never heard about J. P. H. Co. before, but I found some interesting history on it with the full name. I'll keep an eye out for catalogs with scythes. The old hardware company stuff is usually pretty good, so I bet it makes a nice user that I won't mind using! Thanks for the help.
 
I have a blade, for instance, that is clearly a TrueTemper Briar Edge series but is stamped with Van Camp's logo instead. Most smaller hardware stores had no company mark on the tang, but a custom sticker on the blade. Only the big guys tended to have a stamp done up.


Photo not mine, but it's a good example of their logo on steel.
van2.jpg
 
I used my scythe over the weekend. The dang push mower conked out with only one pass left, so I just finished it up with the scythe. I put on the grass blade- I have a couple heavy weed blades for it too. The neighbors smiled.
 
And the more you do it the better you'll get at it! If you include maintenance time/refueling into the equation, scythes don't come out far behind in terms of speed compared to push mowers. Riding mowers are a different matter, of course, but the scythe is appropriate in places where they are not. They complement power tools even if you don't choose to go "full manual". :):thumbup:
 
You're preachin' to the choir, man. :) I like using older manual tools where appropriate (and sometimes where not). My yard is densely shaded by huge oaks, so there's always a little patch on the corners that get sunlight and grow 3 times faster than the rest. I like to mow down the corners with the scythe, and then I don't have to mow the whole yard for another week.
 
@thepossum: You are a man after my own heart. I actually have about 1/3 acre of my front yard (lawn is too grand a term :)) dedicated to hay. Seems like a waste of gas to cut it down when something can eat it!

@42Blades: The Van Camp's stamp is nice. I forgot about this one. It is a heavy weed/light brush (my assessment, feel free to correct me) blade that has/had "OWASCO LEADER" (another hardware store special) stenciled on in white paint. I think (though I might be a bit cynical) that this is the type of blade the Euro-boys use as a whipping post for all "American" style blades. Put it up against a 30"/2oz. (I exaggerate) Austrian style blade and "race" to mow fine grass and you'll buy a Euro, too, even if the "LEADER" is sharpened to razor's edge. If, however, you want to knock over weeds (e.g. poke) and brush shoots (e.g. honeysuckle bush here), sharpen it with a more durable bevel, and it flat out beats a weed whacker. I think this type of blade is most often found in old barns, as farmers used them (as I do) to selectively knock down weeds in pastures, paddocks, etc. where the livestock have grazed down the grass but left the weeds and/or rank grass over "piles". Many people still use them, as I have seen more than one hanging in friends' sheds.
owasco_weedblade.jpg
 
BG_Farmer said:
@42Blades: The Van Camp's stamp is nice. I forgot about this one. It is a heavy weed/light brush (my assessment, feel free to correct me) blade that has/had "OWASCO LEADER" (another hardware store special) stenciled on in white paint. I think (though I might be a bit cynical) that this is the type of blade the Euro-boys use as a whipping post for all "American" style blades. Put it up against a 30"/2oz. (I exaggerate) Austrian style blade and "race" to mow fine grass and you'll buy a Euro, too, even if the "LEADER" is sharpened to razor's edge. If, however, you want to knock over weeds (e.g. poke) and brush shoots (e.g. honeysuckle bush here), sharpen it with a more durable bevel, and it flat out beats a weed whacker. I think this type of blade is most often found in old barns, as farmers used them (as I do) to selectively knock down weeds in pastures, paddocks, etc. where the livestock have grazed down the grass but left the weeds and/or rank grass over "piles". Many people still use them, as I have seen more than one hanging in friends' sheds.
owasco_weedblade.jpg
Click to expand...

I largely agree with your assessments. The heavy blades have their purpose, within a relevant range--one of my favorites is actually a very heavy Kelly Works weed blade of similar length. It's all a matter of application and circumstance. There's a reason there were so many variations of blades back in the day.
 
Cut the first little bit of hay for the year. This is my "bonus" hay from the front yard, so I figured I'd start with it. Took a couple of windrows to think about a picture:
yardhay_start.jpg

Finished about 7 windrows, had to stop to do some other stuff and talk to a campaigner (elections next week), who did mention the scythe and said he hadn't seen one used in a while
7rows.jpg


Just used the standard Seymour SN1 and 30" grass blade. Went fairly smoothly for the first time of the year, but my yard is, if anything, rougher than my pastures and the random mix of somewhat thin grass and clover was causing me to constantly adapt, rather than my favorite type of stand (orchard and timothy) where I settle into a rhythm and just mow. Also I had to mow swinging uphill, due to the way the wind had laid down some stuff, and that causes a little trouble also for me. Sorry about the picture quality, the camera phone doesn't do too well in low light. For those who make hay, note that this is in the evening, so I didn't spread out the windrows. I probably won't until late tomorrow morning. The ground needs to dry and the temperatures are cool enough that I shouldn't have any problem leaving them windrowed.
 
Good stuff! I've mostly had clumpy grasses standing tall enough to really mow right now so I've been spot-mowing with a grass hook, mostly. The rest of it has nearly caught up now, though, so I'll be getting a real session in fairly soon.
 
Some quick videos I took yesterday.

A little lawn work with the 48" cradle blade:
[video=youtube;CHyDMADvIAA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHyDMADvIAA[/video]

Forward strokes with a grass hook:
[video=youtube;F1NKEkF3ELA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1NKEkF3ELA[/video]

Drawing strokes with a grass hook:
[video=youtube;ZKkjR2VTb7Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKkjR2VTb7Y[/video]
 
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