Scythe

[Norse]

Hi, as I am a bit old-fashioned I am looking for a long scythe (see photo). Anyone have a clue where to buy one? I have unsuccessfully looked in Chatuchak (admittedly on the weekend) and in HomePro. Thanks.

[CharlieH]

Try to find a Thai market in your local area. In my experience the farming type implements are sold seperately. In that you buy the head and the handle seperately.

[kickstart]

You will be very  lucky to find a scythe  in  Thailand,ask a Thai  why they is not one in Thailand ,he would say  to hot, swing a scythe  for an hour in the middle of the afternoon, you would know about it ,hot.

If  you want one  it will have to come  from abroad    might be able to have a shaft made up  here, use to use one  in the uk many  years ago , cutting thistles     and stinging nettles  in  old grass paddocks , and you would have to find   sharpening stone ,to sharpen the  thing ,a Thai oil stone  could do the job .

If you whant one ,good luck ,I would say  go and buy  a grass strimmer ,a  Chinese one about 4 000 baht ,alright for a small area ,not to be used too often ,if used a lot  buy a  Honda .

 

[cooked]

I have a scythe, and had been using the same one for forty years (but unfortunately, not this one). So first thing: a cheap one is a frustrating thing to use. It's not for nothing that the shape of a traditional scythe looks a little exotic,

I can't adjust it in a way that stays put for any period of time. The steel isn't suitable for peening and anyway I can't find a suitable honing stone. It also seems to have been made for a dwarf as I have to bend my back to use it.

Peening: if you don't knock out the edge of the blade on a special (peening) anvil using a special (peening) hammer the only way to get a useful edge on the blade will be to use a grinder which means you'll need a new blade after a year's use.

I do use the bloody thing for rough cutting but I can't mow a lawn with it as I used to do in my poverty stricken past (as opposed to my poverty stricken present).

Another thing is that farmers preferred to go out very early in the morning to mow as the grass was still wet, making it easier to cut. For a good part of the year the grass here gets very dry and tough, making it very difficult   to cut, you have to aim at 2cm swathes.

If you know how to peen and have used a scythe before then why not, I doubt you'll  be using it much outside of the rainy season. I paid $200. + for mine 40 years ago and I believe that only the Austrians still make good ones.

To teach somebody how to use a scythe you have to stand behind the guy or girl  in intimate contact... and then it takes a few weeks of 12 hour days mowing to round it off.

Picture of the place where I learned to mow with trees I planted many years ago.

[grollies]

Buy a strimmer, preferably one of the lethal variety with a steel blade.

[thehelmsman]

My father used a scythe all the time on our farm. Wonder why it's not more popular in  Issan. When  the  rice is planted grass is cut to feed cattle at home. It would be an awesome tool.

[cooked]

22 hours ago, thehelmsman said:

My father used a scythe all the time on our farm. Wonder why it's not more popular in  Issan. When  the  rice is planted grass is cut to feed cattle at home. It would be an awesome tool.

Well, I did try to explain why in my post.