Equipment List for Installing Strainer Posts and Stays

Fencing seems to be a task carried out intermittently which means that it can be a challenge to remember all the bits and pieces to take with us to the pale where we are installing strainer posts and stays. We appreciate that different people have different equipment to do tasks of this nature. What follows is what we take with us together with the logic where possibly not obvious.

Vehicles

If it’s a full blown effort and not in the fire season we normally take the ute and the car, both with trailers. In the fire season we still use 2 trailers but transport them onto the site in sequence using the ute. We don’t take the car during fire season as the catalytic converter for ULP vehicles gets extremely hot and can cause fire. Our ute has a diesel engine.

Trailer 1 - Contents include:

·        Sand and gravel mix - for making the concrete for placement around the strainer posts and at the base of the stays

Brickies wheelbarrow – for transporting the mixed concrete to the posts and stays

Trailer 2 – Contents include:

·        Portable generator and starter cord

Concrete mixer. We find that an ideal quantity when making the concrete is 18 shovels of sand and gravel and 3 shovels of cement. This suits both the mixer bowl and the wheelbarrow.

Ratchet straps and a rope for anchoring the concrete mixer and generator on the trailer

Ute – Equipment taken on the back of the tray

Extension cord – from the mixer to the generator

Old towel – for hand wiping and cleaning up the top of the strainer post after making the concrete cap at the top

Spirit level – for ensuring that the strainer post is in fact vertical and not on an angle

Crow bar – for digging the holes and in some cases as a lever to get old fencing out of the way.

A few star posts – for keeping old fencing out of the way, levering the bottom of the strainer if not centred properly and for temporary stays while the concrete sets

Hammer – for hitting in the star posts

Bags of General Purpose cement. The mix ratio is one shovel of cement to six shovels of sand and gravel

(pocket) Knife – for cutting open the bags of cement. Norma practice is to lay the bag down and cut on one side across the centre. This then allows for the centre to be pulled up exposing 2 halves – from which to progressively shovel out the contents.

Half a dozen bricks or so – for placing under the ends of the stays to get them the right level from the ground. Also for chocks for the trailers and mixer if the ground’s not level.

Full 20 litre plastic water containers. About 6 or so. For adding to the cement, sand and gravel in the mixer; cleaning the mixer, shovel and electric fencing posts; and for other general washing.

Shovel – for filling the concrete mixer, sticking into the wet concrete around the post and stays to ensure gaps are filled, and for smoothing the surface of the wet concrete.

A round 42 litre flexible multi-tub aka horse feed bucket. Good for left over cement until next time.

Fuel – for the generator

Leather gloves – for when digging and also good for the starter cord pulling hand with the generator

Ratchet straps – for tightening the stays against the strainer until the concrete sets. See photo.

8 inch soil auger – for the strainer post hole and end of the stays.

Mattock – helps in making the trench for the stays.

Drinking water and other sustenance