Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Lawn Scissors

Thin wires can cut....
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An abacus is a device that consists of a frame with wires stretched across it, with beads-for-counting placed on those wires. Now imagine removing the beads. Make the wires very thin and strong and spaced about half a centimeter apart. Remove the two sides of the frame that do not have wires attached. Extend the lengths of the other two sides, to a meter or two. And extend the wires to perhaps ten meters of length. When not in use you can roll one frame toward the other, the wires wrapping around it, for compact storage.

You need two of them, and four people.

Unroll one across a stretch of lawn. The grass blades tend to fit/slip between the wires. One person holds each frame steady, while the second is unrolled on top of the first. Again the grass blades tend to fit/slip between the wires.

The first two people hold the first half of the Lawn Scissors steady, at the desired height above the ground, and the other two people simply pull the frame of the second half of the Lawn Scissors, so that the moving wires, working in conjunction with the stationary wires, cut the grass blades. The entire device can now simply be lifted and carried to a new section of the lawn, for a repeat performance.

Continue until the entire lawn has been snipped.

Vernon, Oct 23 2009

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       Sounds like pledge week at the ol' frat house.
bdag, Oct 23 2009
  

       What's wrong with a flamethrower ?
8th of 7, Oct 23 2009
  

       A bun for the short idea. I actually finished it this time. The idea itself is good too, but I'd have bunned it anyway.
wagster, Oct 23 2009
  

       It does not sound cost effective, even if the four people receive min. wage. How low to the ground would the workers have to bend? You might make a few bucks selling popcorn and hotdogs to the neighbors looking forward to viewing this spectacle whenever.
outloud, Oct 23 2009
  

       //Continue until the entire lawn has been snipped.//   

       You will be able to continue only until the last wire breaks, which will be soon.   

       The average lawn will have a few stones lodged in the leaves of grass, ready to snap your //very thin and strong and spaced about half a centimeter apart// wires.
neelandan, Oct 24 2009
  

       What [wagster] said. Good idea, explained in under a page.
sninctown, Oct 24 2009
  

       [neelandan], I'm quite aware this Idea is HalfBaked because of needing more than one person (a variation of the device might need only two people). And stones can be removed when found. So? Do you realize the thing could be designed for easy replacement of broken wires? Not that it is necessarily very expensive in the first place....
Vernon, Oct 24 2009
  

       this is a <word I've been trying to remember for a few days>.   

       Much as I like the image of a group of people gleening in the fields, I'd actually rather not be one of them: you could do up one of say 2' square, operated by a squeeze grip on the end of a long handle... in which case I'll take two. [+]   

       [edit] for the elderly you could mod up a walker.
FlyingToaster, Oct 24 2009
  
      
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