Only just come across this thread, so a bit late in the day but I have been thinking for years about scything and often toyed with the idea of buying one. I have a couple of acres of paddock that I need to keep clear of docks and buttercup and I'm loath to use chemicals to help as I use the grass for grazing horses. Up until a few weeks ago I used a brush cutter/strimmer on the young plants. My old strimmer finally packed up and it got me thinking about buying a scythe again. Purely by chance, my other half told me she'd seen no less than three scythes in the window of a local charity shop. Too good to miss. I bought one to try and now wish I'd bought one years ago. It's no more tiring to use than a heavy strimmer and much faster and cleaner, even the older docks with woody stems that have escaped the strimmer are no problem to the long curved blade. So the scythe gets a big thumbs up from me.