Allen Oxford Sythe

[MF 135 Man]

I am looking at buying an Allen Oxford Scythe locally, one has come up on the internet for sale and after watching some videos on you tube i think i could use it to cut thistles, nettles and some small rushes.

Now i have no experience with one and this one needs some work but looks complete.
what do i avoid with these?
i understand they are difficult to start, why is this?
any more information or tips would be great!

Thanks Huw

 

[An Gof]

My father had one probably 50 years ago. It was never a good machine for teaching a young, impressionable, son the finer points of the english language. I seem to remember long pieces of baler cord with a stick tied to the end wrapper around the starting wheel.
There must be better, modern, alternatives available. Don't they use those type of machines in the alps etc.

 

[uztrac]

I owned one many moons ago.Excellent for what they were designed to do,however,they have a mind of their own and can cause the use of bad language.They may also cut things that you did not intend to cut !!!

 

[fenhayman]

Don't buy one, don't even accept one as a gift.

 

[timff]

You’re brave! I used dads when I was a kid and it taught me a lot of new words. Avoid 2 stroke as awful starters. 4 strokes start okay. They have a habit of wanting to steer offline and if you hit a tough patch of grass they still want to keep going so they just dig in and that makes the clutch difficult to release. The are great at nettles but awful in thick grass. Good luck!

 

[colhonk]

Best thing to AVOID is,buying one.

 

[Mursal]

As I'm supposed to be off sick, I'll keep it short ......................

A good strimmer will do more in an hour, have a coffee and go another hour, (for safety). If you think it to much for a good strimmer it will probably be to much for the finger bar.

Good luck with it .............

 

[Exfarmer]

As I'm supposed to be off sick, I'll keep it short ......................

A good strimmer will do more in an hour, have a coffee and go another hour, (for safety). If you think it to much for a good strimmer it will probably be to much for the finger bar.

Good luck with it .............

You just don’t understand the joy of vintage equipment.
It is not meant to actually do any serious work, just get you out the house to sort it, when the wife want’s you to fix that shelf, mend the cabinet, or god forbid, go shopping

 

[MF 135 Man]

what fun is there in not buying it or strimming it!

just been watching some videos, saw this guy showing his electric start!

 

[Ley253]

I remember the school had one! As I was able to start it(two stroke) it fell to me to use the thing! Lots of entertainment followed, but not for myself! The cutter bar would hook up on a hidden stump, around which you would then revolve! The extra load would lock the clutch so you could not stop! A machine to avoid.

 

[sahara]

Just don't,

I had the misfortune to have to use one, an endless list of things that could and did go wrong.

I was very happy when it left the farm, a truly hateful contraption.

 

[essexpete]

My late uncle had a couple converted to walk behind hoes on a market garden. Crap mowers.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Don't know how many acres of bracken I've covered with ours until Asulox arrived and I stopped using it.

 

[Bury the Trash]

As I'm supposed to be off sick, I'll keep it short ......................

A good strimmer will do more in an hour, have a coffee and go another hour, (for safety). If you think it to much for a good strimmer it will probably be to much for the finger bar.

Good luck with it .............

Hope you get well soon @Mursal

 

[TripleSix]

Hilarious machines.

A friend of my dad's had one run away with him when mowing an orchard.
It cut down 3 saplings before he got it stopped.

 

[Kevm]

I have to write in defence of the Allen scythe, I have had three altogether, sold two still got and use my villiers two stroke one.
They are like any sort of tool if they are well maintained and used correctly they are great but most of the sob stories you hear about them are from people who either didn't maintain them or didn't know how to use them.
Mine starts every time on the second or third pull when cold, first when warm.
I mow a roadside at between 30 and 45+ degrees slope, just click the ratchet "diff locks" in and hang on, the two stroke doesn't care about being almost tipped over, it's hard work but a darn site easier than doing it with a strimmer.
The only other way to mow it would be with a tractor and hedge/verge trimmer which would be a fair bit more investment.
If you have level big areas to cut down it's easy, just walk behind keeping it going roughly in the right direction and you are only cutting it once unlike a rotary or strimmer which wants to cut it up 50 times into little bits.

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Had an Allen scythe. Paid £30 for it, a year later sold it for £60 sh I was happy. Best use for it is as our local engineer has made, a pair of oxy-acetylene carrier wheels. I had a Villlers engined machine. Oh yes it ran well and did a fab job cutting but that's all not forgetting you need a baler to follow up. or it would take you for a ride.......Through the scrub, or off on its own....... I'd get a good bull-horn strimmer like a Honda and a rigid blade but one thats edges are bent down so it mulches. https://www.abbeygardensales.co.uk/...brushcutter-blades/showitem-KP-FGP014256.aspx
SS

 

[tomlad]

Ive never used one of the bent ones .
Were i have rush un branble shite on fishery i use my split shaft now with hedge trim head , that hacks thru most , and after ive dropped branch in pond i can hook it out again and carry on , its a screwfix special titan ,amazing for the money but it aint a stihl .

 

[MF 135 Man]

it sold for £122 in very poor condition! so i will continue with the slasher untill something more fun come along.

 

[pycoed]

I've got an Allen Mayfield 8 scythe - it's like an Allen Scythe on steroids - 8hp Kohler engine, Eaton hydrostatic transmission ( 1 lever for forwards/ reverse/ braked in neutral), difflock , dual wheels. It will cut anything in front of it up to about 1 1/4" in diameter. It'll cut 10 times quicker than a brushcutter with a mulching blade & will cut &/or pull bramble roots out as it travels along. Thornproof leggings, thick coat & gloves are recommended ! It's very controllable via the single hydro lever.
What it doesn't like is rough ground & rush tussocks, but if you can keep the blades about 6" off the ground it'll manage it - that is SERIOUS hard work though, 'cos its HEAVY & vibrates more than a three phase dildo. v