And separate the thick pad into two sections. From this point, a more traditional approach of root hook, chopsticks and scissors will be used to comb out the root pad, but the scythe has made quick work of the bulk.
It would have taken me at least an hour with scissors to work the root pad down to this point.
You can find scythes (also called sickles) at some full service nurseries, and of course, TreeBay has them:
JR-0194 Repotting Sickle
JR-0194 Repotting Sickle