I've been using the same straight handle wooden snath for about 30 years (knock on wood) for a variety of mowing: close work near the trees, bigger areas of mixed grasses and forbs, fence row clearing. It's not my only mowing tool, but in some situations, it's the best. I usually make my first clearing in Spring of the ground under the drip line with the the scythe, near the end of scab ascospore maturity, mulching with the cut material.
The setup you describe would be about as heavy as you can get. A curved snath is so much heavier than a straight snath, it would be much more likely to "get hung in the barn to collect dust". I like the straight wooden snath, but I would get a straight metal snath before I got a curved wooden one.
Ditch blades are quite heavy, as you swing them over a period of time. Grass blades are a bit long for my uses: I don't have long expanses of "amber waves of grain"and my orchard is on rocky ground. I prefer an intermediate length, and for closer cutting with less likelihood of slicing trees, I like a bit more curve than on a grass blade. For cutting bigger--but still skinny--saplings in the fencerow at ground level, I prefer loppers or clippers.
In recent years, I've bought my blades from
Scythe SupplyEdited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2013 04:16AM by Ed Anthes.