POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Sheep shearing machine made by Wolseley

Object No. 90/137

This is a three-stand shearing machine made between 1890 and 1910 by the Wolseley Sheep-Shearing Machine Company Pty Ltd. Frederick York Wolseley was the pioneer of standard shearing sets which were cheap and mass produced. The introduction of mecanised shearing in 1887 caused the demise of hand shearing of sheep which had been practiced for thousands of years. The importance of the introduction of the shearing machine meant that more wool could be removed from the sheep more quickly and with less skill than a hand shearer. It used to take about 2 years of training and experience on the job to become a good hand shearer but with a shearing machine almost anyone could learn to be a skilled shearer in a few days. There were three types of shearing machines: those driven from shafting, independent electric motors or portable plants. The most popular in Australia and New Zealand were the shaft-driven ones set up in shearing sheds and involved the shaft belt-driven from a motor. The shaft was mounted on roller bearings set in wall brackets and run at 600 to 700 rpm. The drive for each handpiece was flexible and was taken from the shaft by a friction wheel and friction cone. Shearing machines operated on the same principle as the mower cutter bar. A cutter reciprocated at high speed between the comb and the forks of the shear head. The shearing surfaces were at the lower surface and the upper surface was the comb. As Australian flock sizes increased dramatically during the second half of the 19th century, there was a need to develop mechanised shearing. Its introduction was hampered by the need to find a cutting system which would not clog with wool, would remain efficient, and have a flexible power transmission which would not restrict the movement of the shearer. The world's first patent for a shearing machine was granted to a Melbourne compositor, J.A.B. Higham, in 1868, inspired by a British horse clipping machine but it has the drawback of being fixed to one spot. In 1870 J.A.E. Gwynne patented a flexible drive shaft which meant the shearer wasn't restricted. The first practical commercial machine was invented in 1872 by Frederick York Wolseley (1837-1899), a NSW squatter from near Walgett, and Robert Savage. It was patented in 1877 but took until 1885 to become as efficient and more reliable than hand shears. Wolseley and Savage' s invention comprised a reciprocating three-tooth cutter driven by an endless rope from an overhead shaft. Launched in 1886, the sheep-shearing machines could cut more wool from the sheep in a single piece than by expertly blade-shorn sheep, were easier to use and less likely to cut the sheep by only needing to guide the handpiece through the wool. They also greatly reduced muscular strain on the shearer, not having to press the blades together. Trials and shearing demonstrations were held at shearing heads in the eastern Australian States and New Zealand, and Wolseley set up a company to manufacture the machine in Melbourne. The first complete flock of sheep to be machine-shorn was in 1888 at Sir Samuel McCaughey's "Dunlop" station at Louth in New South Wales. There was hostility from some shearers who felt their jobs were threatened. Also, some graziers were reluctant to outlay the initial installation costs of the machines especially during the depression and drought of the early 1890s. Further improvements to the Wolseley machine's overhead gear, with an adjustable bracket which became the famous Wolseley No. 4 bracket, were made by a young Herbert Austin (1866-1941). Steam, and later internal combustion engines, powered sheep shearing machinery. The first electric-powered shearing machine was exhibited in Sydney in and introduced commercially in 1909 as the Falkiner-Boll. In the days of hand shearing, the shed was a quiet place with only the snip of the blades, but with the advent of the shearing machine the shed was full of noise from the engine, overhead shafting and the whirring of hand-pieces. The uptake of the shearing machine in sheds around Australia was very quick and by 1900 hand shearing was the exception rather than the rule. Margaret Simpson, Curator March 2016