I want to buy a 'sickle bar mower', that's a mower like an Allen
Scythe but, preferably, a more modern one. Can anyone suggest where I
might look for reasonably priced seconddhand ones? New ones (brands
are Alko and Solo) are around £500 and that's a little too pricey for
me.

--
Chris Green

wrote in message ...
I want to buy a 'sickle bar mower', that's a mower like an Allen
Scythe but, preferably, a more modern one. Can anyone suggest where I
might look for reasonably priced seconddhand ones? New ones (brands
are Alko and Solo) are around £500 and that's a little too pricey for
me.

--
Chris Green

If I were you I would get an Allen scythe, they are everlasting.

At a farm sale they make about 30 -80 pounds.

mrcheerful

On 26 Sep 2004 20:45:19 GMT, wrote:

I want to buy a 'sickle bar mower', that's a mower like an Allen
Scythe but, preferably, a more modern one.

Unless you want it lightweight, go for the Allen scythe. eBay has
them from time to time, or posting to uk.rec.engines.stationary would
probably shake one out of the orchard.

Don't use an Allen scythe on sloping banks though - they're very
top-heavy and dangerous to try and control. Dad lost his into the
ditch once and we both stood there watching it thrashing away and
waiting for it to run out of fuel - the unspoken subtext being "Well,
why don't _you_ climb down past the bar and switch it off"

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On 26 Sep 2004 20:45:19 GMT, wrote:

I want to buy a 'sickle bar mower', that's a mower like an Allen
Scythe but, preferably, a more modern one.

Unless you want it lightweight, go for the Allen scythe. eBay has
them from time to time, or posting to uk.rec.engines.stationary would
probably shake one out of the orchard.

Don't use an Allen scythe on sloping banks though - they're very
top-heavy and dangerous to try and control. Dad lost his into the
ditch once and we both stood there watching it thrashing away and
waiting for it to run out of fuel - the unspoken subtext being "Well,
why don't _you_ climb down past the bar and switch it off"



I left one ticking over and the clutch rod snapped , it reared up and headed
towards me, very frightening.

Still the best machine though, can be painful to use if you are very tall as
they were built for an older shorter generation.

mrcheerful

mrcheerful . wrote:

wrote in message ...
I want to buy a 'sickle bar mower', that's a mower like an Allen
Scythe but, preferably, a more modern one. Can anyone suggest where I
might look for reasonably priced seconddhand ones? New ones (brands
are Alko and Solo) are around £500 and that's a little too pricey for
me.

--
Chris Green

If I were you I would get an Allen scythe, they are everlasting.

At a farm sale they make about 30 -80 pounds.

Yes, but apparently rather top heavy and unstable. I'm likely to use
this on rough and sloping ground so something with a lower centre of
gravity will be better if I can get one.

--
Chris Green

Andy Dingley wrote:
On 26 Sep 2004 20:45:19 GMT, wrote:

I want to buy a 'sickle bar mower', that's a mower like an Allen
Scythe but, preferably, a more modern one.

Unless you want it lightweight, go for the Allen scythe. eBay has
them from time to time, or posting to uk.rec.engines.stationary would
probably shake one out of the orchard.

Don't use an Allen scythe on sloping banks though - they're very
top-heavy and dangerous to try and control. Dad lost his into the
ditch once and we both stood there watching it thrashing away and
waiting for it to run out of fuel - the unspoken subtext being "Well,
why don't _you_ climb down past the bar and switch it off"

Exactly, I would buy a 'real' Allen Scythe except for this top
heaviness which I have read about elsewhere. I want something a bit
more manageable if I can get it.

--
Chris Green

Don't use an Allen scythe on sloping banks though - they're very
top-heavy and dangerous to try and control.

I lost control of one on some bumpy ground and it went off and before I
could stop it it had embedded one of the pointy bits in a brick wall. I
refused to have anything to do with it after that.

Isn't the current fashion for wheeled and motorised giant strimmers with
heavy duty nylon cutting line instead of a cutting bar, like these
http://www.lawnmowersandleisure.co.u...Wheelstrim.htm ?

Sam

On 27 Sep 2004 08:26:21 GMT, wrote:

Exactly, I would buy a 'real' Allen Scythe except for this top
heaviness which I have read about elsewhere.

I've seen one converted to use motorbike wheels. As the original
wheels are cast iron disks and very tall, they're the main problem.
--
Smert' spamionam

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 10:35:32 +0100, "Sam" wrote:

Isn't the current fashion for wheeled and motorised giant strimmers

Yes. Although they won't cut through brambles and they fling gravel
around. You cant strim alongside a road, but you can use a sickle
bar.
--
Smert' spamionam

Sam wrote:


Don't use an Allen scythe on sloping banks though - they're very
top-heavy and dangerous to try and control.

I lost control of one on some bumpy ground and it went off and before I
could stop it it had embedded one of the pointy bits in a brick wall. I
refused to have anything to do with it after that.

Isn't the current fashion for wheeled and motorised giant strimmers with
heavy duty nylon cutting line instead of a cutting bar, like these
http://www.lawnmowersandleisure.co.u...Wheelstrim.htm ?

I have a heavy duty strimmer and it's completely useless for clearing
brambles and such. It also has a metal 'brush cutter' blade but I
don't find that a particularly easy way to clear brambles either.

If you do a search for 'sickle bar mower' on Google you'll find lots
of places that say that this type of mower is the best for clearing
really rough, weedy ground.

--
Chris Green

wrote:
Sam wrote:


Don't use an Allen scythe on sloping banks though - they're very
top-heavy and dangerous to try and control.

I lost control of one on some bumpy ground and it went off and before I
could stop it it had embedded one of the pointy bits in a brick wall. I
refused to have anything to do with it after that.

Isn't the current fashion for wheeled and motorised giant strimmers with
heavy duty nylon cutting line instead of a cutting bar, like these
http://www.lawnmowersandleisure.co.u...Wheelstrim.htm ?

I have a heavy duty strimmer and it's completely useless for clearing
brambles and such. It also has a metal 'brush cutter' blade but I
don't find that a particularly easy way to clear brambles either.

If you do a search for 'sickle bar mower' on Google you'll find lots
of places that say that this type of mower is the best for clearing
really rough, weedy ground.

Further to the above what prompted me (this time, I've thought about
buying a sickle bar mower before) was that I used my just bought, very
cheap, hedge trimmer to hack through a patch of brambles and it was
very effective. A sickle bar mower is essentially a hedge trimmer
mounted on driven wheels (costing about 20 times as much).

--
Chris Green

On 27 Sep 2004 19:09:07 GMT, wrote:

A sickle bar mower is essentially a hedge trimmer
mounted on driven wheels

The teeth are a different shape. Hedgecutter teeth have a "notch" in
the blade so that they catch the twig and shear it between them.
Sickle bars have un-notched triangular teeth with a scissor action.
Sickle bars aren't as good at cutting sticks, but they don't block up
and stall if you overload them. Hedgecutters won't cut grass - they
just mash it (and may manage to tear it apart, but it isn't neat).


--
Smert' spamionam

Andy Dingley wrote:
On 27 Sep 2004 19:09:07 GMT, wrote:

A sickle bar mower is essentially a hedge trimmer
mounted on driven wheels

The teeth are a different shape. Hedgecutter teeth have a "notch" in
the blade so that they catch the twig and shear it between them.
Sickle bars have un-notched triangular teeth with a scissor action.
Sickle bars aren't as good at cutting sticks, but they don't block up
and stall if you overload them. Hedgecutters won't cut grass - they
just mash it (and may manage to tear it apart, but it isn't neat).

Yes, OK, there are differences but fundamentally they have the same
mechanism. The only reason for the huge difference in price is
presumably that there is a mass market for hedge trimmers and only a
niche market for sickle bar mowers (partly because everyone thinks
rotary mowers and strimmers are the answer to everything).

As I said my very cheap hedge trimmer was very effective at clearing
brambles, the only difficulty was that it's not really designed for
ease of use close to the ground.

--
Chris Green