Maggie's Farm

I have, and still use, scythes with both curved (AKA Austrian) and the straight (AKA Seymour) snaths. But, using them is sort of like an Okie tea ceremony - a meditation on steel and sharpness, a dance or series of postures that focus and integrate the mind and body. It takes practice and close attention to do properly, to be productive without exhausting yourself in an impotent flurry of wasted motion.

They aren't the best tools for many purposes, and they aren't as productive for most jobs. A light but powerful string trimmer with a heavy string (.155 or so) can outperform them except on flat ground with tall but not very tough grass, such as wheat. Tough grass (such as deer grass) is a very different matter.

For me it's the sharpening and the dance that appeals. Sharp tools are a passion as well as an art and technology. Steel is wondrous stuff though highly variable. The important part of a scythe is the blade rather than the snath. You can even change snaths on the same blade to suit circumstances and preferences. Good steel that can take and hold an edge, that is shaped properly for the task, and that is strong enough yet light enough to handle, can hugely alter your view of the worth of scythes.

Imagine a Damascus steel scythe blade. Could a farmer be as passionate about his blade as a soldier is about his sword? Well, it might be the same fellow at different times of his life.