Bought an antique scythe!

in homesteading •  7 years ago 

I decided that it would be awesome to cut our own hay by hand.

There are several websites that offer new scythes...but they were a little more than I wanted to spend. Having never done this before I didn't want to go and spend a lot on a new one only to find out that this was not for me!
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This old one will work fine. Once I get the technique down I will do some upgrades or get another one. I may need a new blade as you can see this one is pretty rusted.
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The handle is in pretty good condition. One of the grips was loose and I quickly fixed it with a hose clamp for now. I will try and figure something a little better for that.
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Overall I am pleased with it. I quickly sharpened it a little just so I could test it out. It does indeed work! I am working on cleaning up the blade a little better and making sure everything is tight on it.

Stay tuned for a video coming soon where I will show you how it works!

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This post received a 2.5% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @countrymusing! For more information, click here!

My exact opposite idea of awesome lol:
I decided that it would be awesome to cut our own hay by hand.

That is funny! I guess not many people would find this very exciting. It is a lot of hard work, but is very effective for a small homestead. With practice some people can scythe at a blazing pace. I was watching one guy on YouTube and he was faster at scything than a small machine! (obviously he couldn't keep up that speed for a long period of time)

Scything will definitely give a good workout!

@countrymusing Neat; I used them as a child; not for hay but to control the meadow and other such areas. Woodchucks immigrated from all over the world to explore our place. My dad taught my brother and me how to sharpen them. Most folks try to swing them too hard. We also used sickles for tighter areas. Weed whackers; yeah, that was us with no strings attached.

In the song, John Barleycorn (Must Die) they used scythes.

Sorry I missed your comment. Thanks for stopping by! That is cool that you have used one before. I am still trying to learn. I may have to get a longer one as it seems I have to bend over too much.

@countrymusing I keep track of myself on steemd.com; you don't even need to sign up if you do not want.