4 minute read
Rock solid job at Simons Pass Station
Rabbit netting a fenceline in the South Island’s Mackenzie country added an extra element to a large tenure review job for Tekapo-based contractor Nathan Monk.
The 17km job at Simons Pass Station near the bottom of Lake Pukaki job included 6.3km of deer fencing with rabbit netting.
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Nathan and his worker, with the help of some casual labour, spent more than three months completing the line.
“There was just the two of us the majority of the time, with help of casual labour mainly when putting the rabbit netting on.” He also brought in Geraldine-based contractor Ben Haugh’s crew that completed 2.1km of the line.
The weather was one of the biggest challenges on the job, according to Nathan. There was close to three weeks of inversion layer and hoar frost, which left limited visibility for getting the work done. Time management and planning was required to get around this.
Inversion layer and hoar frost reduced visibility for weeks
“But the key material that was worth its weight was the Waratah rabbit netting. Its quality is second to none “ At smoko one day we worked out that this job put us over 60km of rabbit netting and 600,000 clips
“Due to the uncertain times we face, trying secure a date for supply of materials was nightmare,” Nathan said.
“But the key material that was worth its weight was the Waratah rabbit netting. Its quality is second to none.”
“The scale of the rabbit netting was probably the biggest time-consuming part - having to put a rock on the apron every one to two feet apart.
“Over 17km equated to a ship load of rocks!”
Rabbit netting added half the price again to the cost of materials, and the same again for the labour cost. “What they did rabbit net was more a border for control,” Nathan says.
Rocks 1-2 feet apart made the 17km fenceline labour intensive
“In today’s world, fencing has intensified and now between multiple groups are putting a plan together to intensify rabbit netting on new and mainly existing fences for easier control on rabbits.”
Heavy rain added to disruptions
“When it cleared, you’d drop what you were doing and continue sighting lines while you could see,” Nathan said.
On top of the weather throwing up some obstacles, another challenge was keeping to the timelines that were submitted as part of the tender in the tenure review.
Loaded up for the job
“This job in particular we rocked as opposed to pinning. I got a digger in to sort a pile of rocks into a manageable size.
“On Glenrock Station just recently we put seven kilometres of Waratah rabbit netting on and pinned it down as opposed to rocking due to the lack of availability of rocks nearby.
“At smoko one day we worked out that this job put us over 60km of rabbit netting and 600,000 clips.”
The control of rabbits in the Mackenzie has been ongoing for many years now, and in the early days there weren’t a lot of fences in the area. Monk Fencing has been operating for 15 years, which Nathan operates alongside an accommodation business in Tekapo township. He reckons 99.9% of their work is rural with a small amount of residential.
As well as rabbit fencing, the MacKenzie area has thrown up a few different challenging jobs for Monk Fencing. Earlier this year they also undertook fire damage repairs, replacing strainers, joining broken wires and restraining.
Article written by:
Rosa Watson
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