Scything Among Stones | How to Cut Grass on a Slope + Why I Go Barefoot! Mowing at Misterfall Meadow

[@FortyTwoBlades]

Excellent coverage of the pendulum stroke! Incredibly useful in this kind of growth, and especially when dealing with rain-flattened grasses!

[@slattergubben6702]

Thank you!

[@fieldwhisper]

Fantastic, thanks, I'll be watching again. This channel is helping me like no other. It's helped me to get over the hurdle I experienced between doing a basic short course and then later finding myself home alone with a scythe and no one to ask. So I've identified my main obvious problem as blade sharpness and not enough good peening. I'm working on it! But I've never had any intention of giving up. 😊

[@slattergubben6702]

Thanks - great to hear! Yes for sure sharpness is very very important. Sooo easy to think it is sharp while it is not.

[@RaderGH]

This is the video I need to see. I was thinking, 'probably need a shorter blade for those tricky spots.' Very educational.

[@slattergubben6702]

Great to hear, thank you! Yeah, a shorter blade, preferably with a curve at the tip like I show in the video, and of course the different techniques. Helps a lot :)

[@Kenjiro5775]

Watching your videos is certainly like taking a master class in using this amazing tool. That meadow looks incredibly fun to scythe. 😁👍

[@slattergubben6702]

Yes it is! Has been mowed for centuries.

[@Goaterd]

I'm really enjoying your videos! I've been mowing with an Austrian Scythe for five years now; mostly cutting paths for my goat's movable fencing. Your videos get me excited to do more mowing!

[@slattergubben6702]

Thanks! Glad to hear you already use this magic tool!

[@rubygray7749]

You are making wonderful videos. It is exciting to see such professional techniques that make the scythe a practical tool for today, in any situation.

[@slattergubben6702]

Thank you! Yes, it is indeed a practical tool for today and the future. It's all about (re-)learning how to use it, still works just as well :)

[@timothyhume3741]

I love this type of mowing, trying to teach my grandsons how to think and dance amongst the stones. Always keep the line for easier raking after the mow, Better yet is to introduce animal grazing Cheers and blessings from Canada

[@kogarten]

Very well mown. And great camera technology, with very nice shots. My area looks similar. And there are about 100 fruit trees there. Always a challenge and always a joy. 😃

[@willaert1999vierne]

A real master of blade.

[@slattergubben6702]

Thank you!

[@piotrgmiter2833]

...pozdrawiam z Polski, fajnie opowiadasz 😎🌼

[@slattergubben6702]

Thank you!

[@ahrenwagner2993]

Hello there :) Really enjoying the channel! Just informortive and exciting haha! My parents have just bought a farm and are looking to keep a sustainable approach. I wanted to know where I could possibly look at getting a scythe?

[@slattergubben6702]

Look in our webshop - we ship worldwide. And have some uniqe products such as our Nordic snath and special designed peening- jig

[@AntwonieSmith]

That area looks like about an acre,(hectare) of my pasture. Biggest problem I have is having grass that cuts like butter, mixed in with stiff grass and weeds you have to hack at.

[@georgianaghitulete5344]

Your work is an inspiration for me, you along with your team have turned scything into an art. I am from Romania and I am a begginer in scything. Please advise me what scythe to buy keeping in mind that I have 4 000 m square meadow with hard grass and slopes and stones. I am 165m tall if this helps in choosing the size of the scythe. Please tell me the site from where to buy as well , as I want to learn your art of scything with a correct tool. Thank you, Georgiana

[@slattergubben6702]

Thanks! Feels almost embarrassing to advice someone from the country of the probably most living scythe-culture! The Nordic snath is my own design which is very popular and distributed in many countries, I also have a peeningjigg of own design that works very very good. Please take a look in our webshop at www.slattergubben.se there is English version. For that type of area i would suggest a blade called Hartstahl 65 cm and a snath adopted for your length. We do make the Nordic in 16 lengths but also sell the Austrian snath

[@georgianaghitulete5344]

Thank you so much, I will have a look on the site.

[@johnmarzocchi]

Would you do a video about late-season or winter scything an overgrown field that has mature goldenrod and black raspberry vines in it?

[@slattergubben6702]

Goldenrod is an invasive spieces here in Sweden - I know they can get really hard in the late season. All that types of oneyear-plants that recieve a hard and woodened stem in the late season are no fun to scythe. As well as brambles. Here you can not go out with a superthin and long newpeened bevel, if peening you need to keep the bevel strong . This is an advantage with all freehand peening that you can adjust your bevel more after circumstanses - but it demands also a quite developed skill and feeling for what you do. With peening-jig you have less possibilities but you can peen little more gentle and then hone firmly with a course stone until you have a strong sharp edge. Brambles is no good to scythe, better to combine a hoe for the roots with a brushcutter for upperparts. And try to avoid too late mowing for the hard plants - better try to take them eralier before they get to hard.

[@nsg_kuunda4786]

I have so much more I need to learn about this

[@slattergubben6702]

Welcome to the channel! :D

[@samhayden3204]

Wonderful video. Muddling through with several american scythes in New England. Stone damage is a pain to deal with on the hardened blade. Any wise words for dealing with small stones (egg to apple size) that the lovely winters heave out of the ground? I only notice them when i hear them.

[@slattergubben6702]

@@samhayden3204 not really, collect and put on a safe place. Mow with a wide blade such as Hartstahl 65 and set the lay pretty high. Give you lots of safe space and a good angle when protect the blade is more relevant

[@samhayden3204]

@slattergubben6702 Thank you for the reply. I have several grand heaps of stones :). Will try a higher lay.

[@jimargeropoulos8309]

I have a brush scythe for working on trails. I'm guilty of not having a100% sharp blade at times and abusing my blade with rock damage I probably need to look at the lay off my blade better

[@slattergubben6702]

Yes adjusting the lay can help a lot!

[@Вдохновение-ы4ы]

Вы мастер косного дела, спасибо вам за ваши уроки. Скажите пожалуйста, ваша любимая коса это HARTSTAHL ?

[@kocinski8734]

Great videos thank you. I worry about you carrying the scythe over your shoulder! If you slip/trip that could be nasty. Carrying out to the side safer I think.

[@slattergubben6702]

Never trust a human with no faults, yes, I recommend exactly that in my videos about how to carry a scythe and safety. But the Nordic enables just this way of balancing it over the upper arm. Not shoulder. Sorry, but I just like the feeling of carrying that way. It feels cool 😎

[@kocinski8734]

@@slattergubben6702 thanks for answering. Cool is important!

[@123afekete321]

Scything in barefoot seems like a dream.

[@slattergubben6702]

Yes it is! How is it going for you with the meadow?

[@123afekete321]

It's done for now :-) I have a couple small sections to finish, but the main areas are done. I really enjoyed doing it but it was challenging. I'll send some photos.@@slattergubben6702

[@andersg6146]

Hej! Could you do a video on mowing ditches?

[@slattergubben6702]

Not planned but I can. In general very simple though. Just short rows from up to down, enables you to throw the bottom grass a bit up at the end of the row.

[@tarabenedict8416]

Can you do one on cutting narrow 60cm paths between raised beds? Wondering if I can get a scythe for those!

[@slattergubben6702]

Maybe an idea, but 60 cm is no problem if it is not high walls beside. Just play and see! You can also search for " mowing in tricky areas "

[@renanrenan3312]

I would like to have a tool like this, here in Brazil are expensive.

[@slattergubben6702]

We do ship to Brazil! www.slattergubben.se

[@jonthomas5859]

Do you always work downhill or does it depend on the lay of the grass mainly? I find some areas easier to cut uphill whenever the grass is leaning with the slope. Am I correct in my thinking?

[@slattergubben6702]

@@jonthomas5859 yes, no rule without exception

[@beni445]

The bare feet always give me anxiety as I have cut into my shoe (albeit only very slightly) a couple of times while scything in tricky and narrow spots😅

[@slattergubben6702]

Really!? I mean we have been working for so many years with a big team. I have seen a friend infront of me cut his calf in a stroke - but never a touch on anyones feet! I always regard my feet as very safe for the scythe

[@beni445]

​@@slattergubben6702 I think so too for the most part, it only happened to me like 3 times and I did a lot of scything in the last two years. I guess I gotta stay aware of where my feet are when doing pendulum and dragging strokes in tight areas. Can't imagine how you would cut your calf though, how did that happen?

[@beni445]

​@@slattergubben6702 I think so too for the most part, it only happened to me like 3 times and I did a lot of scything in the last two years. I guess I gotta stay aware of where my feet are when doing pendulum and dragging strokes in tight areas. Can't imagine how you would cut your calf though, how did that happen?

[@slattergubben6702]

@@beni445 ha ha, too long and difficult to explain in text. But veeery unlikely to happen again. We had to go to hospital for 8 stitches!

[@ThatBenKraft]

This is exactly how I feel when I’m shaving 😳

[@lobo1261]

Hey i just started using a scythe to mow my lawn and i was wondering if you ever mow in the rain? Is the a good idea? Or just better tonwait till it passes? Im just so eagar to be out mowing!

[@slattergubben6702]

Try! It's no problems!

[@lobo1261]

​@slattergubben6702 also where can i get those long snaths you use mines is 5 ft long and im 5ft 11in

[@slattergubben6702]

@@lobo1261 our webshop is www.slattergubben.com

[@AntwonieSmith]

Greetings friend! I have a blade that is alot wavy and flimsy at the heel where metal has lost tension. Is it possible to cut the bad parts making it less wide, or is it better to buy new? Thanks!

[@slattergubben6702]

That's a problem mostly to blame the factory as it's a too thin material in the blade itself making that possible to happen. Often some parts are much thinner than others on a such blade. There is some things you can make to do it better - I am planning a film about that. But basically grind five to ten mm down and then peen again. And first also try to tense it up by making tension hammer strokes a bit in to the spine of the blade.

[@AntwonieSmith]

@@slattergubben6702 thanks! I'll try that. You da man! :)

[@moo7876]

Ow much does it cost per day for this?

[@slattergubben6702]

Usually we get paid per object, if that's what you ask for

[@kjeldlarsen3539]

Scything is always fun, but raking is a pest! Have you any recommendations when it comes to raking.

[@samueldougoud3289]

Perhaps, raking the bulk with a fork held downwards, and finishing with the rake...? In any case, if your scything was sloppy, you will regret it when it come to raking...😉

[@kjeldlarsen3539]

@@samueldougoud3289 Exactly, so the main problem is probably sloppy scything. :-)

[@123afekete321]

I found I didn’t have to do a lot of raking. I use the fork to roll a row of cut grass into pile which I can then pick up with the fork. Or just fork it into a tarp which is then easy to pull.

[@slattergubben6702]

I find raking pretty nice as it is a break from mowing - about 1/3 of our workingtime is raking in avarage. But as someone says It is a pest if the scytning is not properly done. I plan to to a really long and informative film about raking. But regarding the tools I have two films on the channel - one about how to fix the best fork and one how to fix ans strim the best rake. I agree on the answers from the others!

[@erikacaitano3231]

Ich frage mich, wie ich eines davon erwerben kann

[@slattergubben6702]

You'll find everything you need for scything in our webshop: www.slattergubben.se/produkter/kopa-lie/lieblad-orv-knackutrustning including my own Nordic snath and specially designed peening jig. For international shipping, please read the info at the top of the page :)

[@johnmarzocchi]

That looks like late summer grass.

[@slattergubben6702]

Yes, I think we shot this some time in August

[@schwesterharry]

Do you drive sometimes Barefoot?

[@slattergubben6702]

Yes, mow, drive, walk and also run occasionally barefoot.

[@schwesterharry]

@@slattergubben6702 great

[@plainsimple442]

You are lifting the blade on your backstroke.

[@slattergubben6702]

Sometimes it can ease the work, the important is that you leave a distinct line of cut/uncut gras after you