Any Left-Handed Trimmers?
March 19, 2014 5:23 PM Subscribe
We are trying to find left handed pruners or animal hoof trimmers.
My wife and I are both left handed. While I can do almost everything with either hand, my wife is VERY left handed.
We have a farm and she uses (right handed) trimmers like this (in her left hand) when trimming goat hooves. Sometimes trimmers like this are sold as hoof trimmers, and sometimes the same exact model is sold as a pruner for plants and flowers.
We cannot use the "anvil" style or any with curved blades like this that I have seen in left handed versions.
There are many different manufacturers with right-handed trimmers, but we have not been able to locate any left handed versions. Has anyone seen any?
Thank you for the help!
My wife and I are both left handed. While I can do almost everything with either hand, my wife is VERY left handed.
We have a farm and she uses (right handed) trimmers like this (in her left hand) when trimming goat hooves. Sometimes trimmers like this are sold as hoof trimmers, and sometimes the same exact model is sold as a pruner for plants and flowers.
We cannot use the "anvil" style or any with curved blades like this that I have seen in left handed versions.
There are many different manufacturers with right-handed trimmers, but we have not been able to locate any left handed versions. Has anyone seen any?
Thank you for the help!
I have read/heard other lefties recommend the Shear Magic trimmers.
I'm a 'unilateral' lefty myself and I use these inexpensive green handled ones just fine. My goats are pygmies though, I'm not sure they'd be as effective on big ones. (despite the name, no one has had footrot, knock wood)
posted by Lou Stuells at 5:56 PM on March 19, 2014
I'm a 'unilateral' lefty myself and I use these inexpensive green handled ones just fine. My goats are pygmies though, I'm not sure they'd be as effective on big ones. (despite the name, no one has had footrot, knock wood)
posted by Lou Stuells at 5:56 PM on March 19, 2014
I am not a lefty, so take this with a grain of salt, but I've trimmed a lot of goat hooves and these are the best I ever used. They seem pretty non-handed to me, but I don't have them in front of me at the moment so I can't reassess that in the light of this question.
posted by bricoleur at 8:22 PM on March 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by bricoleur at 8:22 PM on March 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
And no disrespect, but I have used those Shear Magic trimmers, too, and they aren't even in the same league.
posted by bricoleur at 8:27 PM on March 19, 2014
posted by bricoleur at 8:27 PM on March 19, 2014
Response by poster: Thank you for the replies.
I had checked out Lefty's, and didn't see anything that would work.
We have several pairs of Shear Magic trimmers, and similar from Zenport and others. They work for a while, but eventually the blades are not close enough when cutting left handed. Some strips of the hoof go between the blades instead of being cut by it (even when sharpened).
We have some of those green ones. Most other brands work better left handed. They do seem to last longer between sharpening though.
posted by Leenie at 2:14 AM on March 20, 2014
I had checked out Lefty's, and didn't see anything that would work.
We have several pairs of Shear Magic trimmers, and similar from Zenport and others. They work for a while, but eventually the blades are not close enough when cutting left handed. Some strips of the hoof go between the blades instead of being cut by it (even when sharpened).
We have some of those green ones. Most other brands work better left handed. They do seem to last longer between sharpening though.
posted by Leenie at 2:14 AM on March 20, 2014
Just an idea: if there are no pruner style trimmers for lefties, can you trim goat hooves with horse hoof nippers? The smallest ones might be OK, and they're always non-handed. Nippers do look a bit clumsy, but they're suited for surprisingly delicate work, e.g. tiny foal hooves.
(I don't know much about goats, but I do trim and shoe my own horses. I see anvil style trimmers aren't an option, but as you didn't mention pincer style tools, the idea of hoof nippers sprang to mind. Of course, you might already be using nippers and specifically need a pruner style trimmer for other parts of the job.)
posted by kaarne at 6:48 AM on March 20, 2014
(I don't know much about goats, but I do trim and shoe my own horses. I see anvil style trimmers aren't an option, but as you didn't mention pincer style tools, the idea of hoof nippers sprang to mind. Of course, you might already be using nippers and specifically need a pruner style trimmer for other parts of the job.)
posted by kaarne at 6:48 AM on March 20, 2014
What about left handed/left cut tin snips? The top blade should be on the left side to work for lefties). Make sure the cutting pattern for the ones you buy includes "straight".
posted by oneirodynia at 4:06 PM on March 20, 2014
posted by oneirodynia at 4:06 PM on March 20, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Requiax at 5:53 PM on March 19, 2014