Ditching the Lawn Mower for a Scythe

One of the biggest problems we have with grass growth is the large amount of rain in early spring combined with early season growth. This makes it very hard to use a traditional lawn mower. The grass is too wet and stalls the lawnmower. By the time the grass dries out, it can be 10 inches high, which is also hard on a lawn mower.

Mowing a lawn is also wasteful because we have goats and horses. It would be nice to give them this grass. Clippings aren't the greatest form of feed, if we could give clippings easily. Catching wet grass in a bag is a pain at best. We could move the animals to the grass, but this is not feasible in our "yard" areas.

An idea I had this spring was to buy a scythe over weed whacking. I watched a video and noticed how much cleaner and faster the scythe is versus a string trimmer. I bought a cheap scythe and blade, $100 total, from Wilco, a regional farm supply store.

Using the scythe is not very hard. I have been using it a short time and am accomplishing my goal, but I am sure over time it will get less strenuous as I develop a good technique. For instance, I have learned to inch forward and make cuts of a few inches with each swing versus trying to take a full 26" blade cut. Another thing I learned was sharpen the blade often, every few minutes of use. The scythe makes a nice cut on the grass and leaves it in a whole piece, much like the hay we buy in a bale. Using a scythe also allows the user to work the cuttings into a pile. This pile is collected and fed to the animals.

The scythe makes a bit of a more natural cut on the grass where some grass is not cut at the same length but folded over. Also, if the land dips in spots some of the grass is cut a bit longer than others. Finally, because the grass is allowed to grow longer, it builds a better root structure. This mimics a more natural grazing pattern that should lead to better growth and drought prevention.