Ray Donkin with the fencing wire spool which can make the task of re-fencing easier and quicker.
By Kath Gannaway
WHEN a stranger asked Ray Donkin if he’d like a hand with the back-breaking job of tearing down his burnt-out fences, he didn’t hesitate.
“Bloody oath … I’d like a few,” he said.
Mr Donkin lost a house and all his personal belongings when the fire raced through his Buxton farm. He was grateful for the offer, but even more grateful when a very useful invention arrived from South Australia a month or so later.
“The bloke, Roger, stayed all day and came back for another three days,” Mr Donkin said.
“He was telling me they had a machine that they’ve used after the bad fires in the bottom part of the state a few years ago and what a help it had been,” he said.
The equipment is an engine-driven spool which fits onto the carryall at the back a tractor and winds up fencing wire. It can also roll out wire when it’s time to re-build.
“The great benefit is that once the wire is rolled up you just pull it off in a nice, tight bundle, so it’s easier to get rid off,” Mr Donkin said.
The South Australian volunteer contacted a Rotary Club in Melbourne who organised to rail the equipment over and fitted it with a new engine before delivering it to Buxton.
Mr Donkin said it was a huge help on his property and is available to others who are facing the task of tearing down or building fences.
While Mr Donkin said the machine could have been used extensively had it been available immediately after the fires, but he feels it still has a role to play.
Additional funding is now available to property owners who were previously ineligible and a new lot of fencing work could result.
Mr Donkin is keen to see the wire-roller machine out in the community helping people to get the job done.
Anyone wanting further information can contact him on 0427 747 170.
