I was back at the farm for a long-anticipated super-long weekend over Australia Day. I had taken the Monday off work so I would be spending 4 glorious days at the farm.
The job I had planned to tackle on this trip was the fence along the boundary. I would be happy if the only thing I achieved was to drive in all the star pickets along the fence line this weekend, so it's ready to wire up on another trip.
I had been avoiding this job because of the sheer size of the project and I would much prefer to do other jobs - like work on the shed or the cabin. I had made a point of only bringing the tools I needed to complete the fence - so there was little temptation to do other jobs. I already had all the fencing equipment needed to complete this part of the fence, so no turning back now!
Not wasting any time, I started the fencing after arriving at the farm on Saturday. It was about 3pm by the time I had started and still about 38 degrees!
The first part of the job was to space out the star pickets. They are about 4 metres apart - which works out to be 4 of my long strides.
Here's the first 3 pickets in the ground. I had strained the wire along the ground, so all I needed to do was place the pickets next to the wire and drive them in with the star picket driver. That's the neighbour's shed in the left side of the photo.
Here's the star picket driver. There is a bit of an art to using this to ensure the pickets go in straight. It's still tough work. On average, each picket was driven using about 10-15 hits. Some went in with only 5 hits - others took 50+ hits to go in - these pickets were not my friends!
Here are all the pickets completed on the shorter part of the boundary (with the front gate just behind). I was VERY surprised about how easy (and fast) this part of the fence was completed - it only took about 1 hour to drive 23 pickets - about 1 picket every 3 minutes. This job was coming together very nicely!
It was still very hot by 5:30pm and I decided to call it a day. I was already ahead of schedule and (at this rate) was confident of completing the job early.
The job I had planned to tackle on this trip was the fence along the boundary. I would be happy if the only thing I achieved was to drive in all the star pickets along the fence line this weekend, so it's ready to wire up on another trip.
I had been avoiding this job because of the sheer size of the project and I would much prefer to do other jobs - like work on the shed or the cabin. I had made a point of only bringing the tools I needed to complete the fence - so there was little temptation to do other jobs. I already had all the fencing equipment needed to complete this part of the fence, so no turning back now!
Not wasting any time, I started the fencing after arriving at the farm on Saturday. It was about 3pm by the time I had started and still about 38 degrees!
The first part of the job was to space out the star pickets. They are about 4 metres apart - which works out to be 4 of my long strides.
Here's the first 3 pickets in the ground. I had strained the wire along the ground, so all I needed to do was place the pickets next to the wire and drive them in with the star picket driver. That's the neighbour's shed in the left side of the photo.
Here's the star picket driver. There is a bit of an art to using this to ensure the pickets go in straight. It's still tough work. On average, each picket was driven using about 10-15 hits. Some went in with only 5 hits - others took 50+ hits to go in - these pickets were not my friends!
Here are all the pickets completed on the shorter part of the boundary (with the front gate just behind). I was VERY surprised about how easy (and fast) this part of the fence was completed - it only took about 1 hour to drive 23 pickets - about 1 picket every 3 minutes. This job was coming together very nicely!
It was still very hot by 5:30pm and I decided to call it a day. I was already ahead of schedule and (at this rate) was confident of completing the job early.While sitting in the shade outside the shed, I could hear a loud scratching noise coming from the tree. I investigated and was amazed to see a huge goanna climbing up the tree. He (or she) doesn't look that big in the photo but in context with the tree, it is over 1 metre long. Kath and I had seen the goanna up another nearby tree a few weeks earlier, but this is as close as we have seen it to the shed. Hope it stays outside of the shed.
The next day was another hot day, with the sun shining and hardly a cloud in the sky. Next on the agenda was to do the other side of the fence. This part of the fence was going to be the harder part because it's longer and there is a gully in the fence line.
Here's the star pickets on the back part of the fence. It took me about 3.5 hours to complete this part of the fence. The ground on some parts of the fence was very hard and it took a lot more time to drive the pickets.
All in, I think the entire fence took about 1500+ whacks to finish! This makes for sore arms and shoulders!!! Here are the pickets at the end of the fence. The finish line!!! All the pickets were completed by the afternoon of my second day at the farm - with 2 days to spare!
The next day was another hot day, with the sun shining and hardly a cloud in the sky. Next on the agenda was to do the other side of the fence. This part of the fence was going to be the harder part because it's longer and there is a gully in the fence line.
Here's the star pickets on the back part of the fence. It took me about 3.5 hours to complete this part of the fence. The ground on some parts of the fence was very hard and it took a lot more time to drive the pickets.
All in, I think the entire fence took about 1500+ whacks to finish! This makes for sore arms and shoulders!!! Here are the pickets at the end of the fence. The finish line!!! All the pickets were completed by the afternoon of my second day at the farm - with 2 days to spare!
Ahead of schedule, I started the job of wiring up the fence. Here is the second top strand of wire through the fence. It takes about 10 minutes to walk the fence boundary so it's a 20 minute return journey to walk along and check that there are no snags and then walk back to tighten.
Here are the wire joiners I bought. They are a very easy way of joining the wire together. Some think they are cheating, but I don't care.
Here are the wire joiners I bought. They are a very easy way of joining the wire together. Some think they are cheating, but I don't care.
Here's the tool used to tighten the wire. Works great! The wire joiners have little jaws inside which grip the wire and keep it tight.
One strand of wire on the fence done!!!! I decide that this was a good time to call it a day - before heat stroke set in. I ended up having a chat to the neighbour who had turned up while I was fencing. He noticed how much progress I had made so invited me over for a drink and a chat.
The next day was again another hot one! In fact it was about 43 degrees inside the shed. A bit cooler in the shade.
I was ahead of schedule on the fence, so I could afford to spend some time finishing off the cover around the water tanks. There isn't too much to do to complete this project - until I buy the corrugated iron.
It was Australia Day, so I put up the Aussie flag.
By this stage, the heat was taking it's toll and I took it easy for the rest of the day.
The next day, I did a bit more work on the fence - I unraveled the barbed wire along the length of the fence. This took about an hour and absolutely exhausted me. The wire spool weights about 45 kilograms and I had to carry it walking backwards while it unraveled. This was tough work!
With the barbed wire rolled out over the length of the fence and tightended up, the next job was to wire the fence to make sure the strands stay attached to the fence. Here are the knots I need to do on every picket. It works out to about 150 bends to finish the fence! I didn't complete all of them becuase my hands were killing me by the end - and I still have to do 4 times the knots when I install the netting later on.
On my last day, I had decided to give the fencing a bit of a rest. I took a stroll down to the big dam - which isn't so big now as the water is disappearing quickly. Our neighbour suspects that it may have a leak. That would explain why the level has dropped so much - compared to the other dams.
I fired up the brush cutter and attacked the scotch thistle around the bank. It was the great thistle masacre of 2010!!!!!
Here's a photo of the dam after the brushcutting. It took me nearly 2 hours to knock down all the thistle around the dam. Hopefully on the next trip I'll have time to spray it and stop it from re-flowering.
All good things must come to an end. I had acheived more than I had expected to on this trip - so I suppose it was very sucessful.
After watering the plants, we have about 700 litres in the water tank.
On my next trip, I plan to bring up some corrogated iron to attach to the frame around the water tank. Whether I complete that job will depend on whether I have my generator by then (that's a sneak peak!). I'll have to wait a few weeks before I buy the pre-fabricated fencing becuase of the cost.
One strand of wire on the fence done!!!! I decide that this was a good time to call it a day - before heat stroke set in. I ended up having a chat to the neighbour who had turned up while I was fencing. He noticed how much progress I had made so invited me over for a drink and a chat.
The next day was again another hot one! In fact it was about 43 degrees inside the shed. A bit cooler in the shade.
I was ahead of schedule on the fence, so I could afford to spend some time finishing off the cover around the water tanks. There isn't too much to do to complete this project - until I buy the corrugated iron.
It was Australia Day, so I put up the Aussie flag.
By this stage, the heat was taking it's toll and I took it easy for the rest of the day.
The next day, I did a bit more work on the fence - I unraveled the barbed wire along the length of the fence. This took about an hour and absolutely exhausted me. The wire spool weights about 45 kilograms and I had to carry it walking backwards while it unraveled. This was tough work!
With the barbed wire rolled out over the length of the fence and tightended up, the next job was to wire the fence to make sure the strands stay attached to the fence. Here are the knots I need to do on every picket. It works out to about 150 bends to finish the fence! I didn't complete all of them becuase my hands were killing me by the end - and I still have to do 4 times the knots when I install the netting later on.
On my last day, I had decided to give the fencing a bit of a rest. I took a stroll down to the big dam - which isn't so big now as the water is disappearing quickly. Our neighbour suspects that it may have a leak. That would explain why the level has dropped so much - compared to the other dams.
I fired up the brush cutter and attacked the scotch thistle around the bank. It was the great thistle masacre of 2010!!!!!
Here's a photo of the dam after the brushcutting. It took me nearly 2 hours to knock down all the thistle around the dam. Hopefully on the next trip I'll have time to spray it and stop it from re-flowering.
All good things must come to an end. I had acheived more than I had expected to on this trip - so I suppose it was very sucessful.
After watering the plants, we have about 700 litres in the water tank.
On my next trip, I plan to bring up some corrogated iron to attach to the frame around the water tank. Whether I complete that job will depend on whether I have my generator by then (that's a sneak peak!). I'll have to wait a few weeks before I buy the pre-fabricated fencing becuase of the cost.
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