The coal shearer is the only type of power loader that is used in Australia. There are currently four manufacturer’s of shearers in Australian, these being :

• DBT,
• Joy Global,
• Eickhoff,
• Mitsui Miiki.

A typical shearer can be as long as 15 m and weigh in excess of 90 tonnes. The travelling speeds of shearers in Australia can vary between 10 – 14 metres/minute. However, the speed of shearers are on the increase, and there is now a reported case of 45 metres/minute at Twenty Mile Colliery in the United States.

A typical shearer consists of the following components :

• Drum or cutting head
• Ranging arm
• Self-haulage system
• Cowls
• Bretbly cable handler
• Shearer controls