Allotments 4 All

We are now on our second petrol strimmer and have endless problems with it. Is there any manual tool that gets anything like the same results on long grass, nettles etc? I realise it will be harder work, but maybe less frustrating!

Can only think of a Scythe, when I watched the old gardeners using them it looked so effortless.

i used a tool called a bill hook to clear my allotment of weeds and grass - http://www.get-digging.co.uk/tools.htm - bit like the long handled one - but not as long handled - got given it some months ago by my mum who was clearing out her shed - didnt have a use for it then - but im one of those that wouldnt fling something like that out - you never know when you will have a use for it lol - which i found.

I prefer a sickle over a strimmer anyday they are also sold on the get-digging site although i don't know what the quality is like. I find a lot of the new ones availiable are very flimsy whereas the old ones often sold as antiques on ebay are brilliant & cut through just about anything once they are sharpened. Last week I offered to clear part of one of my neighbours gardens when I saw him trying to clear chest high brambles with just a pair of secateurs it took me about an hour to clear the area with a sickle (a slope with a 50 degree inclination 120'x30') in addition to the brambles there were also a lot of young self-seeded trees the sickle went through those that were up to about 2" thick effortlessly the larger trees required a bow saw, then it took us another 3 hours too get everything moved & shredded & there were 2 of us doing that bit.
Another of my neighbours has the tail end of that slope where it is not quite so steep & better maintained generally it is bracken, grass & rosebay willow herb growing on his it only gets cut back when it is waste high (about once a month through summer) on several occasions he has made bets he can clear half the slope faster & more evenly cut with his petrol brushcutter than I can with a sickle on every occasion I have won the bet finishing before he is halfway through the only difference being that the half I cut is shorter & looks more like a lawnmower has been used on it.

That should help give you an idea what you can do with a sickle & a bit of practice.

Thanks, will look out for one on ebay, or maybe treat myself!