What makes you choose the stihl over a scythe?

I picked up a Stihl KombiSystem with the hedge trimmer attachment. It goes through that high stuff easily and the stalks just fall over. That's the thing that I hate about a string trimmer, it throws stuff all over the place.

Rhesa --- After experimenting with the scythe last year, my feeling was that the rye was too dense and tough for easy scything. I know it's permaculture heresy, but Mark's weedeater works at least twice as fast as my scythe with about half the effort, ad he does a much better job. And the amount of gas he uses is miniscule --- I think he's gone through less than a gallon this year so far and he's cleaned up a lot of problem spots for me already (multiple hours of work). I'd definitely put a weedeater into the appropriate technology category.

Fritz --- I thought the weedeater was going to make a big mess, but was pleasantly surprised how well the rye stayed put. I suspect part of that is Mark's skill level --- he used the weedeater like a scythe, mowing down a swath at a time, and the most I had to do was nose a few fallen bundles back onto the bed.

Some modern tools are acceptable and should be used. You use a gasoline lawn mower and not a push reel mower? A chain saw and not a cross cut saw? You are doing really great and I enjoy the pictures of your gardens. Please keep them coming. I am working on my own gardens using Steve Solomon’s way of hand digging them. I enjoy digging as it relieves stress for me. I have not tried no till yet but will think about it for the future. I might start out no till with a buckwheat field/ hairy vetch or rye grass to cut and feed to my compost piles. For now my garden is small and waiting on a fence as the deer and rabbits enjoy it also.