I used my scythe yesterday (Thursday) and Tuesday, to clean out blackberry vines and police up overgrown trails going through woods. The alternative tool is to use a string trimmer, but a scythe is a LOT faster and will deal with thicker brush. A scythe, though, is a tool for MEN, and it takes great conditioning to be able to swing a scythe for more than an hour or so my practical limit. My scythe has a 36" blade, and it needs to be kept as sharp as a razor to cut effectively. In between uses, I use a file to sharpen it, then a stone hone to get it as sharp as possible. While scything, I stop periodically and re sharpen the blade with the stone. Mechanized farming reallt began with the Mccormick reaper. Now there are an enormous variety of powered farm equipme nt doing a huge variety of farming tasks. The descendent of the McCormick reaper is the modern combine which may harvest a 60 foot swath of grain while traveling constantly at ten miles an hour, unloading finished grain into a motorized truck that cruises along beside the combine to unload grain. These are real modern marvels! Still, the scythe was once a modern marvel in it's own way. Originally, a hand scycle was used to harvest wild wheat and barley, using flint embedded in the wood cycle frame to cut grass. The gatherer had to bend over while harvest grass, handful by handful. When the iron age came along, the iron scythe blade came along I suppose, and men could harvest grain standing up, and in a wide six foot swath! Another modern marvel! When steel became an industrial commodity, I imagine that steel scythe blades came along too, with a sharper edge and lighter weight. Lighter weight means a lot when you are swinging that weight all day. And finally, the cradle was invented that gathered cut grain into bundles with each stroke, making it a lot easier to collect the cut grain. And keep in mind when I say "cut grain" that merely means the stocks were cut and left on the ground. The sheaves of grain still needed to be collected. The kernels of grain still needed to be threashed ---separated from the cut stocks. The grain then needed to be winnowed, separating the wheat from the chaff, often by throwing it up in the air so that wind could blow the chaff away (Finally there was a role for women!). Alternatively oxen could be used to tred over the grain and separate it from the chaff. This made it into the Bible:
I want to know a litlle bit more about Deering mower no3...(wich i found it near my house) I cant find anything obout that mower... do you guys have any usefull links?
we watched this in career pathways today so i just wanted to pay my respects to the 2 n a half minutes that got me outta class...to any of my class mates ima clarify...blade hit meh over the head wif a binder so now you know who i am...am i now populer?
Hi I am doing a history project about the reaper however I am doing it on Charles P. Gronberg who is one of my ancestors who made a improvised version of the McCormick reaper. So I was wondering if you by any chance know the name of the person who he had the competition with? Please reply as soon as you can.
I think the reaper would have enabled the argument to free the slaves in a free Confederacy- if the south had won- they were not going to be the only modern nation in the world with slaves, mechanization would have freed the slaves in about a generation.
A very instructional video with great Historical significance.
I used my scythe yesterday (Thursday) and Tuesday, to clean out blackberry vines and police up overgrown trails going through woods. The alternative tool is to use a string trimmer, but a scythe is a LOT faster and will deal with thicker brush. A scythe, though, is a tool for MEN, and it takes great conditioning to be able to swing a scythe for more than an hour or so my practical limit.
My scythe has a 36" blade, and it needs to be kept as sharp as a razor to cut effectively. In between uses, I use a file to sharpen it, then a stone hone to get it as sharp as possible. While scything, I stop periodically and re sharpen the blade with the stone.
Mechanized farming reallt began with the Mccormick reaper. Now there are an enormous variety of powered farm equipme nt doing a huge variety of farming tasks. The descendent of the McCormick reaper is the modern combine which may harvest a 60 foot swath of grain while traveling constantly at ten miles an hour, unloading finished grain into a motorized truck that cruises along beside the combine to unload grain.
These are real modern marvels!
Still, the scythe was once a modern marvel in it's own way. Originally, a hand scycle was used to harvest wild wheat and barley, using flint embedded in the wood cycle frame to cut grass. The gatherer had to bend over while harvest grass, handful by handful.
When the iron age came along, the iron scythe blade came along I suppose, and men could harvest grain standing up, and in a wide six foot swath! Another modern marvel!
When steel became an industrial commodity, I imagine that steel scythe blades came along too, with a sharper edge and lighter weight. Lighter weight means a lot when you are swinging that weight all day.
And finally, the cradle was invented that gathered cut grain into bundles with each stroke, making it a lot easier to collect the cut grain.
And keep in mind when I say "cut grain" that merely means the stocks were cut and left on the ground. The sheaves of grain still needed to be collected. The kernels of grain still needed to be threashed ---separated from the cut stocks. The grain then needed to be winnowed, separating the wheat from the chaff, often by throwing it up in the air so that wind could blow the chaff away (Finally there was a role for women!).
Alternatively oxen could be used to tred over the grain and separate it from the chaff. This made it into the Bible:
Lovely short instructional video. Thanks for taking the time to post for us!
Thank you so much for this! Currently writing a book that involved McCormicks invention in the plot line. This was very helfull!
THIS IS THE BEST VIDEO EVER1!!1!1!1 GOOD JOB DUDE
Thanks for posting
Thank you so much! This helped me a ton with my project! I'll be sure to cite you as my source :)
@green5562 No problem it was really great to make it.
Who else watched this cause there teacher
hummingbird ... the tool is the scythe.
My friend in my class is related to Cyrus McCormick cause that his great great grandpa I think his name is Gabe McCormick it’s crazy.
Same im realated to
Actually they used a modified scythe called a cradle so each swing left the wheat in a pile ready to stook.
What's the tool called that was used before the reaper? I can't quite understand what you said, I NEED TO KNOW URGENTLY!!
I want to know a litlle bit more about Deering mower no3...(wich i found it near my house) I cant find anything obout that mower... do you guys have any usefull links?
Hi I'm Isaac McCormick he was my ancestor
Hi cousin
Obed Hussey got rained out!
Cyrus mccormik is my great great great great uncle
I am also related to this man.
we watched this in career pathways today so i just wanted to pay my respects to the 2 n a half minutes that got me outta class...to any of my class mates ima clarify...blade hit meh over the head wif a binder so now you know who i am...am i now populer?
@TheXuanDang Nope it was pulled by a set of horses or other animals.
Hi I am doing a history project about the reaper however I am doing it on Charles P. Gronberg who is one of my ancestors who made a improvised version of the McCormick reaper. So I was wondering if you by any chance know the name of the person who he had the competition with? Please reply as soon as you can.
Vinyl Head I'm sorry but I really don't know who it was.
lance mcconkey ok thank you for the response anyways
never mind it glitched
My Dad grew up 3 miles from the McCormick farm...
savagenomore Oh, yea? Well, my grandfather grew up 1.5 miles from the McCormick farm.
oh, yea? well my dad grew up on top of the farm
Cyrus McDonald
its 18 seconds long!?
so i am confuse so he did not have any more slaves????sorry my speakers not working
I think the reaper would have enabled the argument to free the slaves in a free Confederacy- if the south had won- they were not going to be the only modern nation in the world with slaves, mechanization would have freed the slaves in about a generation.
Oops! Meant to say Helpful