"Lightning" Hay Knife

FortyTwoBlades

FortyTwoBlades

Baryonyx walkeri
Dealer / Materials Provider
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Mar 8, 2008
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[video=youtube;B9n_DhFjXS0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9n_DhFjXS0&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Cutting a round bale with a Weymouth pattern "lightning" hay knife. About halfway down the length of the bale there was actually a fairly substantial piece of wood in the hay, but the knife went right through it! :D I use this knife for portioning out our bales so the horses don't pick through it for the tastiest bits and soil the rest, as they'd be prone to do if I just rolled the whole bale out to them.
 
made me cringe at about 3:25.... I used to do stuff like that till I ruptured 3 disks in my back...

Awesome little tool though....I'd like to have one mounted like a spear blade on the end of a 4 foot long haft about maul handle size...... zombies beware!
 
Yeah--uphill push with loose footing. Even with the size of the bale reduced, it always takes a bit of effort!

The teeth of the knife are only sharp on the fronts, as it cuts on a push.
 
It'd be a shame to use a good one for that purpose, though--they aren't made anymore! You can find worn out ones fairly easily and inexpensively, however. Did see an ugly-as-sin "sword" someone made from cutting and welding one once. ::shudder::
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
[video=youtube;B9n_DhFjXS0]I use this knife for portioning out our bales so the horses don't pick through it for the tastiest bits and soil the rest, as they'd be prone to do if I just rolled the whole bale out to them.
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Hold up. Hay has bits that are tastier than others? Who knew?

As for the whole pushing thing, it's actually somewhat reminiscent of the X-fit tractor tire flips. Always fun stuff and a great work out!
 
Surprisingly efficient cutting that hay.

I guess they knew what they were doing.

I've seen these for sale as "ice saws" more than once!
 
I always thought these were ice saw when i spotted them at flea market around here, learn something new everyday!
 
Living in a state that used to have a pretty active ice industry, I've seen a few genuine ice saws in person and they're very different from hay knives. Long T-shaped handle on a shank connected to the blade, which looks much like a conventional saw blade but with much larger teeth.

20slwc.jpg
 
It was a nice quality bale. The stuff we normally get is even better, too. Our guy usually has some really nice hay, but since it's the end of the winter season his stores were all tapped out and he had to get this one for us from a contact of his. Still great hay, just not quite as lovely as the usual. :D We're quite lucky to have the guy in our neck of the woods. Our own fields are heavy with red clover and I hand-bale it for the rabbits, cutting it with a scythe and turning/raking the old fashioned way--ends up almost sickeningly sweet smelling. The horses would hoover that stuff down in a heartbeat!
 
I wish i could take care of horses too... they are such beautiful creatures. You are a lucky man! :)
 
Remzy said:
I wish i could take care of horses too... they are such beautiful creatures. You are a lucky man! :)
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I saw this last weekend. Beautiful team!

[video=youtube;JYotZ_jt3ik]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYotZ_jt3ik[/video]
 
I have one of those...Not sure if it's a Weymouth, but it looks exactly like the one in the video.
 
Weymouth was the last name of the fellow who invented it, not the manufacturer, and the pattern is named for him. The first company to manufacture them was the Hiram Holt Mfg. Co. of East Wilton, Maine, but then just about every other edge tool manufacturer started making them as well.
 
Thank you for this. I'm well aware of the existence of hay knives but up til now had never seen one in action.
 
Happy to share! It's a valuable tool that a lot of modern homesteaders could find quite handy if they knew how they worked. I'd love to get the chance to use it on hay in a stack someday. The biggest challenge a lot of folks will have with them is getting the teeth properly thinned out. It's a very low angle and most that you find will have very thick geometry from decades of sloppy sharpening.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Happy to share! It's a valuable tool that a lot of modern homesteaders could find quite handy if they knew how they worked. I'd love to get the chance to use it on hay in a stack someday. The biggest challenge a lot of folks will have with them is getting the teeth properly thinned out. It's a very low angle and most that you find will have very thick geometry from decades of sloppy sharpening.
Click to expand...

On the homesteading, are you at the point you could go off grid?
 
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