August 2025
Finished up at Jundah and the Sheep Station at the end of July after doing another 5 weeks. Whilst not nearly finished the farmer needs a break to catch up with the main business, sheep.
We had completed just about half of the boundary, the worst affected bit. But there is still many kilometres of fence still needing attention. The track around that part of the fence will need grading before vehicles can get there to do the repairs. In the meantime the sheep will be confined to the repaired area of the station. But my time there has ended, good luck for the future guys.
The replacement method for the washaways and flood gate replacement:
Build box assemblies to support the two ends of "good bits" of the existing fence welding 100mm bore drill pipe.
Tie of the existing fence to the assemblies and remove the old damaged fence.
Clear and level the fence line.
Run a suspension cable as sight wire and eventually the support for the mesh.
Lay out the 2.7m stem pipe posts and 1.35m butt pipe to be used as the fence posts and support.
Drive in all the posts, one meter into the ground with bobcat and post driver attachment.
Weld the support rod from the posts to the butts and suspend the cable on the posts.
Run out the 1.8m mesh.
Stand up the mesh and strain.
Tie off the mesh to the suspension cable every 50cm leaving an apron to curve along the ground.
Tie off the mesh to the stem pipe posts at the bottom with just a loop of wire that will give way with the next flood water.
With the right equipment, enough people, and no unforeseen complications, it was possible to do ~200m per day. Maintaining the integrity of the boundary overnight.
