Historical information

From Dreams to Reality: Mobile Shearing is a book which details the creation of a portable shearing station on the back of a semi-trailer truck tray.

Starting in 2015, Paddy Hanbury and John Bailey sat around a campfire in Twin Hills, Central Queensland. A conversation ensued about Paddy’s desire for a portable shearing station to enable more efficient shearing of his 2,145 km2 property “Arcoona”, 500km north of Adelaide. “I can probably build that for you”, responded John.

Three months later John phoned Paddy to inform him he had built a 1/3 scale model of his vision of a mobile shearing facility at his garage in Ocean Grove. After seeing the model, Paddy gave the project the green light. John, with the assistance of his mate Lindsay Price, set about transforming a semi-trailer provided by Paddy into a life-size version of his model, while also working in his fulltime occupation as a builder.

Based at Lindsay’s property in Lara, the next 8 months were spent researching, designing, fabricating, and fitting out the trailer. On the 20th of March 2016 at Arcoona, the first sheep was shorn on the portable shearing station. The project was a success, and the mobile shearing facility is now in full service, providing amenities for shearer and sheep alike.

Physical description

64-page book containing colour images. Occasional information text supports these images.