Justin talks about his experience with shearing clippers and has Amazon and other affiliate links in this blog, which will guide you to a good choice of sheep shearing equipment.

When I first started shearing sheep as a young man, I never envisioned myself using an electric clipper, let alone a battery-powered electric clipper. I was too busy trying to make a living to shear as many sheep as I could with a mechanical handpiece. Now that I shear many small mobs of sheep, I couldn’t do without my battery-powered sheep shearing clippers in my shearing kit.

A battery powered sheep shearing clipper is a handheld device that sheep shearers use to remove the wool from a sheep. The clipper derives it’s power from a lithium powered battery source that is attached to the backend of the clipper itself or has a cord that runs from a lithium battery to the clipper. The clipper has no need for mains power except to charge the battery.

The two Types of Battery clippers

There are two types of battery-powered electric clippers.

1. The first type is where the battery is slotted onto the back of the clipper. Much like how you would put a battery on a drill.

2. The second type is where you have a cord running from a lithium battery, which is held onto a belt strap with a spiral cord from the battery to the back of the clipper. The video above is such a clipper.

The function of the Battery clipper

A battery-powered sheep shearing clipper is used on a sheep farm to remove the wool from a sheep when you are away from mains power. There are many reasons why a farmer may need to clip the wool off a sheep out in the paddock instead of back in the shed or sheep yards. The portability and lightweight features of the battery clipper make it a very valuable piece of machinery in a sheep farmer’s tool kit.

By having a battery-powered sheep shearing clipper in your farm vehicle, you can attend to a sheep out in the paddock without adding stress to your sheep by bringing them back into the sheep yards to attend to one or two sheep. The less you have to muster your sheep back to the yards, the less stressed the sheep will be. The happier the sheep will be. if you can catch an individual sheep in the paddock and deal with the sheep there and then with your battery clipper, the happier the rest of the mob will be and the affected sheep as well.

Why I use a Battery-powered Electric Sheep Shearing Clipper

As a sheep shearer and small sheep farmer, I use my battery-powered sheep clipper a lot during the season. It wasn’t too many years ago that the only real option I had was to use a permanent shearing plant to shear or dag sheep. As battery lithium technology has gotten better, manufacturers of shearing equipment have adapted, and there are now many companies producing very good, high-quality battery sheep shearing clippers.

Dagging up the race

I first started using battery clippers to clean the dags off sheep that were sold. I used the clippers on sheep that were standing up in a race to take off the dags. Not every sheep had dags, so I only needed to do a few. This made the job easy, fast, and much less stressful for the sheep before they were sold.

Small Mob Shearing

I then started to shear very small mobs of sheep with my battery-powered sheep clipper. Instead of setting up my generator and using my shearing plant or 240-volt electric clipper, I quickly grabbed my battery clipper and shore the sheep. This saved me 20–30 minutes each time I shore a small mob of sheep.

Control Maggots

I quickly learned that I could use the battery clipper to shear an area on a sheep that was affected by maggots. I got into the habit of putting the battery clipper in my farm vehicle every time I checked the sheep. Inevitably, I would spot a sheep with dags or urine stains that would have maggots, and I was able to shear the infected area before the maggots got really bad.

Animal Welfare and Time Efficiency

The battery-powered electric clipper has made my life so much easier as a professional sheep shearer and as a small sheep farmer. It has improved my work efficiency by saving time mustering sheep into the yards and has also helped my sheep's welfare because I can attend to their individual needs in the paddock, leaving the sheep much less stressed.

Wool Sampling

As a small sheep farmer, I have always loved wool. It is a sustainable natural product that has so many benefits. On my young merino sheep, I take a small side sample of wool from the sheep with my battery-powered electric clipper. I only need a 3 inch square piece of wool to be tested to give me the sample I need. I then send this sample away to be analysed for micron, yield, tensile strength, and Vegetable Matter. My battery clipper proves to be invaluable in side sampling as I can easily walk up and down the race to take the sample with the clipper without being restrained by power cords.

You can get a Lithium battery-powered electric sheep shearing clipper HERE

7 Features and Benefits of a battery electric sheep shearing clipper

1. Lightweight. The battery clipper is a very lightweight shearing clipper. The clipper usually weighs around 1.2kg. Making it easy to use in the field.

2. Portability: Put your battery clipper in the back of your farm vehicle and grab it whenever you need it. Whether you are out in the paddock away from the yards or you need it in your sheep yards, the battery clipper is easy to grab and use with no mains power cord to get entangled in and set up.

3. It comes with two batteries. The battery clipper usually has a spare battery, so when one runs out, the other can be quickly exchanged.

4. Sturdy Carry Box: To keep everything from getting lost and damaged.

5. Accessories: A set of spare blades, a screwdriver to change the blades, a battery charger, a brush to clean the air vents, and clipper oil.

6. Battery running time: Between 1-2 hours, depending on how dense the wool is and how recently the battery was charged.

7. Clipper Speed: The clipper has a speed of 2000–2400 RPM. Which is plenty to shear the wool off a sheep.

Please leave a comment on the type of sheep shearing clipper you have and the experience you have had with it.