The Device And The Choice Of The Scythe

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

You can't mow hay without a braid

In the recent Soviet past, the local administration demanded from summer residents, gardeners, truck farmers, in a word, from everyone who worked on the land, to timely mow all the grass around the plots. Failure to comply with these requirements threatened with a fine. This was due to the fact that dry grass, not cut in time, is a source of increased fire hazard. Especially in the spring, when uncontrolled massive grass felling began.

It is dangerous in horticulture, where plots are only six acres. In such conditions, houses and buildings literally stick to each other, and a fire, which occurs in one place, can easily destroy everything in the area that is capable of burning.

Nowadays, the situation is completely different: both the plots have become large, and each manages his own plot as he pleases, and no one decides to him … However, the problem of mowing grass is still relevant. You still have to mow it. And not only for security reasons. If you have a goat or rabbits, then they definitely need to prepare hay for winter. And here you cannot do without a braid, which has been helping rural residents for many hundreds of years.

Pros and cons of trimmers

Of course, the traditional tool of our ancestors - the scythe is increasingly being replaced by mechanical means, foreign curiosities - by trimmers. I do not want to be either an avant-garde or a retrograde, and therefore I propose to objectively evaluate the methods of mowing grass with an ordinary hand scythe and different trimmers. I emphasize: it is the mowing of the grass, not the mowing, since after the trimmer the "hay" (finely chopped grass), in comparison with the scythe, remains almost like a "gulkin's nose". But the trimmers allow you to mow in hard-to-reach places: around bushes, in narrow ditches, near fences, buildings, walkways, between beds, on hummocky areas, and so on.

Of course, it is quite easy to cut grass with a small trimmer, but its productivity is not great either. But not everyone can use a relatively highly productive such heavy tool, which, for example, migrant workers mow down city vacant lots.

In addition, if your trimmer is with a gasoline engine, then, firstly, it now and then requires refueling with fuel, which is now not at all cheap, and secondly, the work itself is constantly accompanied by fumes and stench.

The electric trimmer is devoid of these drawbacks, but with it, as they say, "you won't go far", or rather, you won't go. Can't pull the cable hundreds of meters ?! So you can only mow in your area and around it. And again, using such a trimmer is also not entirely cheap: the cost of electricity is constantly growing.

Another significant drawback of the electric trimmer is that they cannot cut wet grass. If a fishing line is used as a knife in trimmers, then it often has to be replaced.

I will also mention the third type of trimmer - on the battery. But this trimmer is so low-powered that you can't turn around with it: it works for several minutes, but charges for hours, using the same expensive electricity.

I have already mentioned what remains after cutting the grass with trimmers …

What is a braid for?

A hand braid is devoid of many of the disadvantages inherent in trimmers. Moreover, the very process of mowing with such a scythe is extremely beneficial to health. This is due to the fact that almost the entire body is involved in the work: arms, legs, shoulder girdle, parts of the pelvis. As a result, the tone increases, blood circulation is activated, metabolism is accelerated, respiration and cardiac activity are normalized. Along with sweat, unnecessary salts, toxins are removed from the body, the muscles of the shoulders, chest, belt, arms and legs are strengthened.

Working with a scythe, with pleasure you breathe in the incomparable scent of freshly cut fragrant grass! What could be more useful for a person? In short, mowing grass is truly a source of health and good mood.

However, despite the listed advantages, I strongly advise you not to rush, do not immediately throw the trimmer and do not grab the braid. It should be noted that it is very, very difficult to wield a scythe, especially for those who are not very skilled in this difficult matter. Indeed, in the old days, villagers learned to mow from childhood, only over the years comprehending all the subtleties of haymaking.

Citizens who mow only from time to time do not need to master all the intricacies of this craft. It is enough to achieve consistency of several elementary movements and, I am sure, things will go smoothly.

For this we need an instrument of the forthcoming labor, that is, a scythe. Perhaps the most widespread hand braid in our country, the “litovka” (braid with a long straight handle), consists of only four parts (see Figure 1). This is the scythe itself (canvas), the handle (it has several names: mowing, braid, and so on), the braid and the handle are fixed on it - the mower holds it with the hand during work and controls the scythe, the handle and details for attaching the braid to the braid.

It seems that there are very few details, but each of them plays an extremely important role: their mutual arrangement greatly facilitates or complicates the work of the mower. Hence the conclusion: it is imperative to find the optimal combination of all the details, and, more simply, to fit them together. Moreover, you should focus on a specific mower.

Choosing a braid

Let's start, of course, with the choice of a braid, or, as it is also called, canvases (see Figure 2). And you should buy not just a "braid", but a braid for a certain job. According to the Soviet classification, braids are divided according to numbers: from 5 to 9. This number should be found on the heel of the braid. For everyone who is going to mow, as they say, "at home", the most suitable will be braid number 5. Or, as a last resort, # 6.

How many times have I seen how summer residents bought braids indiscriminately: according to the principle, and which one is. As a result, they received braids of the eighth and even the ninth size. And these braids are used exclusively by professional mowers when harvesting hay in open spaces. Indeed, not everyone can successfully manage such heavy braids.

If there is such an opportunity, then you need to use the old braid, made as many years ago as possible. Simply put: the older the braid, the better it is in quality. Despite modern technology, the current braids are too heavy, their parts are disproportionate, poorly processed. This fully applies to imported braids.

It seemed that a Chinese-made braid (where could it be without the Middle Kingdom!) With a wide, massive canvas would last for more than one year. But here's the bad luck: her heel fell off pretty quickly. However, we will not only complain about the quality of the Chinese product. Although this cannot be ruled out in any way.

The fact is that the mower (a retired woman) did not actually mow, but with all her might swung the scythe and knocked down some of the grass on the way. Soviet-made braids withstood such extreme loads for quite a long time, while the Chinese braid broke immediately.

Equally heavy is a braid made in Germany. She has a very wide weighty canvas 60-65 centimeters long (for information: I have a 54 centimeters long canvas). I don’t presume to judge whether there are German braids of smaller sizes, but those that are on sale can only be wielded by Hercules, Antaeus and other ancient mythological heroes-strong men.

Preparation for work

The new braid needs to be sharpened. It is best to do this on a sharpener, constantly pouring water on the blade (mowers call it a "sting") so that the thin metal does not overheat and burn out. Processing width along the entire length is no more than two centimeters.

In very recent times, and in some villages to this day, after sharpening the scythe is beaten off. Most often, this operation was carried out and is now being carried out on a special anvil with a special hammer (see Figure 4). Although with certain skills, you can get by with a simple vice and an ordinary household hammer. The main condition: the end of the hammer must be sharp.

It is done this way … Firmly pressing the sting against the anvil, we apply small, frequent blows with a hammer to the outer side, as if pulling, thinning the metal. The width of the broken edge should not exceed 2.5 millimeters. If the edge turns out to be much wider, then the sting and the blade will "lead", they will noticeably bend and take on an uneven, wavy appearance.

And like this, gradually, centimeter by centimeter, we process the entire braid. Then the tip is tucked in with a fine-grained emery bar. We sharpen the sting with the same bar when it becomes dull already during mowing. You can sharpen in different ways. Either by smooth movements along the sting: "W-w-w-and-and-and-k", or in short movements, first on one side, then on the other: "whack-whack, whack-whack".

There are craftsmen who, instead of beating on the anvil, simply grind off part of the metal from the back of the sting with an ordinary file or a file with a ground cut. The result is the same as for the bounce. True, over time, the width of this web decreases noticeably.

When, during work, the sting does not cut off all the grass or knocks down only the tops, it needs to be beaten off again. Usually, a summer resident, gardener, or gardener needs only one beat per season. For a professional mower, two or even three. Especially if you have to mow dry, tough marsh grass.

Recently, instead of the traditional beating of a scythe, sharpening with a universal sharpener is becoming more common. This fish-shaped tool perfectly replaces the traditional skip (see photo 1).