Electric Shears for Llamas with Years of Fiber Growth

Hello everyone...

As we prepare to shear llamas and alpacas this Spring, we are considering the purchase of electric shear, although we prefer to use hand shears. However, we have about 6 animals that have come to us with what seems to be years of growth. A few appear to have old barrel cuts but still over 2 years worth of growth. One male, in particular, has dreadlocks! We do full body shears on our animals since we battle both heat and humidity here in MD.

I'd like to hear some recommendations for some electric shears - brand, model, etc. Also, I'm thinking we should purchase extra blades since they will dull quickly given the thick fiber.

We figure that we'll probably want to sedate these animals since (1) they haven't been shorn in such a while that they will be nervous, (2) our inexperience with electric shears, and (3) they have such heavy coats and we want to get it off as quickly as possible.

Thanks in advance,
Dawn