Station Water and Fencing With a Compact Excavator
Troughs, tanks, poly pipe, dam cleaning and strainer posts across Queensland cattle and cropping country. The jobs a 2 to 6 tonne machine does that a tractor cannot.
A station already has a tractor, a loader and probably a grader. What it usually lacks is a precise digging machine that can go on the back of a truck to a bore fifty kilometres from the homestead. That is the job a compact excavator does.
Water
Poly pipe to troughs. Trench 450 to 600 millimetres deep so the pipe is below stock traffic, vehicle tracks and summer heat, and deeper under gateways and creek crossings. A narrow bucket on an R22 PRO or R32 PRO cuts a clean run; a skid steer trencher is faster on long flat runs in sandy loam.
Trough and tank pads. Level, compacted pads keep troughs from tipping and tanks from cracking. A tilt bucket shapes the pad; the blade finishes it.
Turkey nests and dams. Silt is the enemy. Clean out in the dry when the water is low and the silt has cracked, working from firm ground. The R57 PRO's 5.8 metre dig depth and reach let it work from the bank on most turkey nests; the R32 PRO handles small dams and drains.
Bore heads and pump pits. Neat, square excavations for pump housings and pits are excavator work, not loader work.
Fencing
Strainers and stays. An auger drilling rig on the excavator drills a strainer hole in hardpan in a minute. In black soil, dig them in the dry and set them before the wet.
Old fence removal. A grab or hydraulic thumb pulls posts and rolls old wire. Never track over loose wire; it wraps a final drive in seconds.
Firebreaks and access tracks. A 4-in-1 bucket or dozer blade on the skid steer, or the excavator's blade, grades tracks and scrapes breaks.
Ground across the state
- Black soil (Darling Downs, Central Highlands): dig moist, never wet, never bone dry.
- Gravel and hardpan (Central and North West): ripper first, then dig.
- Red loam and basalt (Tableland, Burnett): easy digging, rock in places.
- Channel country: soft after rain, iron-hard after.
Machines that suit
The R22 PRO for smaller properties and lifestyle blocks, the R32 PRO for most stations, the R57 PRO where dams and bigger earthworks are regular. Carry spare filters, a belt and a track with the machine when the nearest dealer is a day away. See the Queensland regions for what suits your district and the attachment finder for augers, buckets and grabs by model.