Pretty sure it’s some kind of scrubby Scandinavian birch. Looks like it, by the bark.
Oh yeah. I have used similar techniques. Splitting wood and living in the boonies is a test of, “HOW FAR WILL YOU GO?”
After personally splitting hundreds of cords of wood by hand, with these arms and hands, I have learned a few tricks. The running start, sometimes necessary. The full body swing. The twist your hands at the end like this special axe, also useful. There are a ton of techniques. You know what my favorite is? The log won’t split with a maul, so chainsaw the damn thing down the middle lengthwise and try again.
I have met only one log that I couldn’t split. It became my chopping block! Everything has a use.
I like this funky axe. I’d use one. It has a use. But I gave up splitting wood by hand. My elbows are shot. I’ve had enough. Should buy a log splitter.
1 Like
I know, right? After years of splitting, the thought of using a tire corral never once occurred to me. The best I could come up with was to stop putting most logs up on the chopping block. Now, I just chainsaw them up in a pile, then walk around with my maul, stand each one up with the corner of the blade, then give it a couple whacks and move on to the next one. But the tire! Jeezem crow, that would have been useful for kindling!
1 Like
somebody needs some logs split?
1 Like
Scythes are more labor-efficient than sickles, but tend to waste more grain. Sickles are more work, but it’s easier to make sure you keep every bit. (On the other hand, the extra work and time may cost you more grain than you’re saving.)
Needs more lightsaber.
2 Likes
I’m happy to see that certain body mod pics that could be titled “split wood” haven’t been referred to yet…
1 Like
Today I learned there’s a word for an scythe handle: “snath”.
1 Like
Have I got the video for you??!!! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3J5wkJFJzE
1 Like
There are really good scythes specifically for cutting grass and trimming. (Don’t wear open-toed shoes and don’t swing wildly!). They are light, hollow-bladed, precision instruments. If you ever have a chance to handle one of them, DO. It’s a singular experience. You should try it.
http://scytheworks.com/catalogue.html#outfits
BONUS: more “SLOW TV”
1 Like
Interesting technique they used with that tractor. Mow what appears to be a rectangle by going one way across the shorter dimension, stopping the blades, raising the blades, reversing the tractor while not mowing, then repeat.
Right. It would have been 50x faster on the tractor if they hadn’t lifted the blade every pass and instead mow like a normal person would, by cutting either a giant spiral or stacks of s-shapes.
There are a few hidden nice things about the super slow scythe method.
No fuel consumption.
If you’re not off in la la land, you might be able to spot ground-nesting birds before you chop their homes and babies to shreds and scythe around them. (This is a huge problem with tractor mowing.)
You can break your mowing into sessions over many days (I find this a bonus not a bad thing).
It’s quiet and peaceful.
If you do it right and don’t overdo it, you get good physical exercise.
A nice scythe, with ergonomic wooden snath, extra blade and peening rig will set you back about $500. That tractor in the video was at least $40,000
1 Like
On the other hand, if you have a large field you’ll have to find a few extra hands with their own scythes. If you have to pay them, a simple tractor assembly might become much more economic after a certain point.
If you know how to work a scythe well though, it will probably never make any sense to choose a strimmer over a scythe.
Of course. I’m no Luddite! I used to have a 1986 John Deere and LOVED that thing. It was a mid-range tractor and I bought it in the year 2000 for $15k. I put about $5k into repairs, maintenance and fuel over the years. I just sold it for $13k. That’s $7,000 for the privilege of owning it for 15 years, and it was old when I bought it. So I paid about $500 a year to have the thing, and I used it ALL THE TIME.
I defy anyone to get that kind of value out of a car. You can’t buy a 15 year old car, use it heavily for 15 years and then sell it for near the price you bought it.
So, I have no hate for tractors. But scythes… they’re also lovely in a totally different way.
2 Likes
My friends always thought that I was nuts for using a scythe all the time (instead of a weed-eater/etc)… I would always point out the things that you just listed – I rarely had any converts (read as never). Quiet, exercise, no two-cycle-fumes, self-satisfaction, the grass laid down nicely so that I could easily gather it up for critters, etc.
I used to do the same thing when clearing old trails in the woods – head out with an axe, bow-saw, and shovel (instead of a chainsaw). My friends were quite surprised when they saw the super-highways out in the back 40…
As Ranger Doug would say:
"You fellers know that that would be the easy way. But it wouldn't be the cowboy way!"
2 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
