Fencing system keeps ferals at bay
A new fencing machine based on Mt Barker sheep producer David Slade’s award-winning design could fortify farms from destructive pests, including wild dogs, an agricultural equipment manufacturer says.
Mr Slade’s fencing invention, which claimed the 2015 Farm Inventor Award at the Newdegate Machinery Field Days, was on display at last week’s Sheep Easy in Moora.
The machine can be fitted onto a front-end loader and used to roll-out and strain fences.
Dandaragan Sheep Handling Systems owner Richard Roe has been manufacturing the product for the past two years, dubbing it the Slade Easy Fencer.
At last month’s Sheep Easy event, held by The Sheep’s Back at Moora, Mr Roe also exhibited the new bigger model — the Slade Ferals Fencer — just 24 hours after the unit was complete.
Mr Roe said it was an efficient tool and would help producers erect fencing to prevent wild dogs from invading properties.
“It’s a 1.8m high machine that’ll take two 500m rolls of wire or three 400m rolls,” he said.
“The benefit is for farmers in areas with ferals they can put the fence up with relative ease.”
Mr Slade’s original fencing machine took about a decade to develop, with the farmer devising the product from a practical farming point-of-view.
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