Sickle Dimensions

Characterized by a curved blade, a sickle is a hand-held tool that is commonly used in agriculture. Farmers use it to cut grass and harvest grain crops. The inner part of the curve is very sharp, which can easily slice through different kinds of materials. It comes in different types, some of which are called the slash hook, the swap hook and the grass hook. In addition to these important details, it is interesting to find out the different sickle dimensions.

The Dimensions of a Sickle

The average length of a harvesting sickle is 8.66 inches, the blade of which is 3.15 inches long. A sickle designed primarily for grass cutting has an overall length of 16.54 inches, while its blade is approximately 7.09 inches long. Meanwhile, a sickle with serrated blade has an average length of 6.5 inches. Some sickles are bigger, the overall length of which can reach approximately 17 inches. For this particular type of tool, the average length of the handle is 6 inches, the width of which is about 1.5 inches. At times, people call sickle as a bagging hook, brishing hook and reaping hook.

Additional Facts and Other Interesting Details

In case of Revolutionary Socialism or Communism, a sickle is part of the hammer and sickle symbol, which is used to symbolize the peasantry or the agricultural working class. In the film “Harry Potter,” the term refers to a fictional unit of money.

In terms of history, this tool was discovered first somewhere in Southwest America. It originally developed from the shoulder blade of an animal. Artifacts found in New Mexico and Arizona includes curved tools that derived from mountain sheep horns. Meanwhile, deer mandible was used to create a Caddo sickle. The sizes of the early forms of sickle range from 13 inches to 16 inches. This tool is primarily used to harvest rice especially in South America.

The sickle played a very important role in the Agricultural Revolution. Various studies showed that the use of this tool contributed to the domestication of grasses. Furthermore, the use of sickles also helped the people during early Mesopotamia to domesticate wild cereals. During the late Neolithic Era, people paid more attention to this particular kind of tool compared to other tools. Later on, its design was standardized to facilitate its repair and replacement of parts. Thanks to the vast improvements on the design of the sickle, farming became easier and more competent than ever.