Mechanical sheep shearing machine
Esquiladora mecánica de ovejas
- Date
- 1877-1888 · confidence medium
- Place
- Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Credited to
- Frederick Wolseley, with Robert Savage and Richard Park
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A shearing machine with an oscillating cutter driven by a transmission, which replaced hand shears on large holdings. It reduced injury to the animal and increased the wool each shearer processed per day.
Wolseley and Robert Savage obtained a first patent in 1877, but that machine was not a success; the commercial version was patented with Richard Park in 1884. There were other prototypes and patents in those years.
What it led to
- large-scale Australian and New Zealand wool industry
- later electric shearing machines
- the Wolseley company, which ended up making cars