a device used for shearing sheep (see). A distinction is drawn between electric and mechanical shearing machines. A shearing machine includes shears, motors for driving the shears, and other production equipment.

To accommodate farms with sheep herds of various sizes, the USSR produces shearing machines with a varying number of shears: one set of shears for shearing 500 to 600 sheep, four sets for 3,000 sheep, 12 sets for 10,000 sheep, 24 sets for 20,000 sheep, 36 sets for 30,000 sheep, 48 sets for 40,000 sheep, and 60 sets for 50,000 sheep.

In electric shearing machines, the shears are run by 120-watt electric motors, one for each shear, which are activated by a flexible shaft or directly from the motor shaft (shears with a highfrequency electric motor built into the handle). Electric power for the machines is supplied by the farm network or from mobile power plants of the appropriate capacity provided by the manufacturer and equipped with a generator and an internal combustion engine. In mechanical shearing machines, the shears are driven by an internal combustion engine through a transmission, countershafts, and flexible shafts. Shearing machines are kept in mobile and stationary shearing sheds. Analogous shearing machines are used abroad.