How to learn to mow with a scythe

In the old days, the peasants began to learn to mow even from an early age, adopting skills from experienced Kostsov. Now scythe are less and less, replacing it with the trimmers, but if you need to mow in tight places, around the shrubs, the best tool is not found.

You will need

• - KOs;
• - brusok;
• - fine-grained grinding wheel (sharpening stone).

Instruction

1. Prepare the braid to work. Perhaps no one of agricultural implements does not require such a thorough preparation. The scythe must be sharp and also a long time to grow blunt. If the tool is new, the blade should be sharpened on fine-grained abrasive wheel width 1.5-2 cm First this must be done from the bottom side along the entire length of the canvas. The blade itself should be moist (it should be wet during the sharpening process).
2. Then braid need to beat on the anvil with a special hammer. The tool prepared in this way, long blunts and cuts the grass without the mower with little effort.
3. Immediately before mowing sharpen the scythe with a special bar. Take her right hand behind the heel, and the left over the snath. The sharp end of the blade insert behind sloping the soil at a depth of about five centimeters.
4. Wipe the cloth beam braid freshly cut grass. Do this carefully, trying not to get hurt. Then the right hand pull bar and slide it across the blade (from the heel to the middle) one and the other hand holding the scythe with his left hand at the middle of the back of the blade. Bar hold hollow against the blade of a knife. Grind the top half of the blade, skip to the bottom.
5. Take a braid in hand. Slightly tilt the torso forward. Put your right foot in front and left — rear, so that the body was rotated to the left. This situation facilitates the process of mowing.
6. The movement of the arms when the mowing should be a circular right to left. Swing braids should not be wide (usually it is determined by the rotation of the torso). First wave from left to right. Put the braid slowly and smoothly. The second — from right to left when cutting the grass quick and jerky.
7. At the time of mowing the heel of the spit has to go almost on the surface of the mowed area, and her nose to be slightly raised. The provision is necessary to maintain throughout the work, otherwise the braid will cut into the ground.
8. Each stroke should be smooth. Try not to strain your hands, as this will cause unnecessary fatigue. After each stroke of the right leg move one step forward, before the next left proceed to the right.
9. When mowing the heel of braids with snath raking grass clippings and puts it aside at the beginning of the previously traveled swath, forming a so-called swath. Note that it should not be the uncut grass. The swath should be straight and of approximately the same width.