City Boy Goes Bush

This is a short story about a Sydney earthmover that thought he had done it all until he went to manage the family farm in the north west Hunter region. This is where I learnt just how tough and versatile Bobcat equipment is.

Upon my arrival I was greeted by my brother on his tractor where I was whisked off to a paddock to be shown how to operate machinery and attachments that make hay, irrigate 300 acres of pasture and keep feed for up to 100 head of cattle plus a long list of maintenance and repairs. He then left the next day for the United States and left me to it. Talk about being thrown in at the deep end.

First job on the list was fencing and the replacement of cattle yards. For the demolition of the cattle yards I used the very first Bobcat I owned which was an ex-rental 843. What a great work horse. After the demolition I then started to drill the post holes in what proved to be the rockiest ground known to man. Just breaking through the hard crusty surface was a job in itself and when the auger teeth started to catch this hard rock it would chip the corner off the tungsten tips. During the operation, the drill would bash and dance around the hole until it would draw these large stones up through the auger, sometimes getting stuck and bending the flutes. It wasn't the type of job I wanted for my brand new drilling rig. After the fencing was complete I then dug trenches through the yards for water troughs with an old 743 and which mind you had 8000 hours plus on it and still ran like the day it was bought. 1 down, 100 to go.

There were some horse stables that had been erected with poorly laid concrete (talk about cowboy construction). It had to be replaced and drainage dug in the stables. Another job for the dynamic duo. The 843 tackled the concrete and the 743 and hoe had to dig the drainage in through the stable doors with very limited room to move. It wasn't long before the Bobcats were running through the stables mucking out the stalls and bringing in clean shavings. 2 down 99 to go.

The local farmers were just in awe of what Bobcat equipment could do, because they have always done everything with their tractors, dozer blade and post rammers and it was not long before I was getting calls from them saying "Steve, do you think you could just come over with your Bobcat and dig this, drill that, demolish this.." I think by the time I left the farm they had forgotten where they last parked their tractors.

Another big job was building a new road into the property. A dozer would stock pile in a paddock nearby and with my tipper and my 843 I had to feed a grader with material for the new road. For almost two weeks all day and some of the night loading and leveling this rocky material for the new road became very tiring and gave my bucket and bones quite a workout.

One of the problems with farming alongside the Hunter River is when it floods, you have to retrieve your irrigation pumps from the river bank. Over the years the banks have eroded and this task has become quire hairy for the tractor and not much easier for the Bobcat. Working with tyre pressures to a minimum and working on the edge of these banks with a rising tide threatening wasn't easy. The sandy soil continually giving way made it hard to maneuver and I had to be careful with every move I made to keep myself and the Bobcat from taking the plunge. After the floods subsided the Bobcat also got the job to clean and level the pads so that the pumps could be refitted.

This next job was out of left field for a Bobcat but it worked superbly. While drafting cattle for sale a rouge steer decided he wasn't getting on that truck for his last ride, so he turned, broke out of the yard and ran about three farms away. The stockman and I thought not to worry, we will get him later. Two days had passed when we got a phone call from a neighbouring farm asking us did we own a certain crazy steer that was breaking up his yards. I said we will be right there. The stockman grabbed his gun, jumped in his 4WD ute and I followed him down with the Bobcat and tipper. We pulled up in the paddock where the steer was grazing happily and little did he know that I was unloading the Bobcat and stockman had him in his sights. On shot ended the troublesome steer's days and I went over and picked him up in the 4 in 1 bucket, loaded him on the ute, put the machine back in the truck and we were home before dinner. It wasn't long before the rouge steer was our dinner and everybody agreed the meat was overly tough due to the harshness of the 4 in 1 tenderising process. I think it was because of our steer's athletic ability.

Anything from clearing paddocks of box thorns and stumps, to lifting tractors up to repair broken axles, these Bobcat never stopped working from the time I arrived until the day I left that place one year later and I can tell you, there were some sad faces as I was driving out of the gate, but I just couldn't tell if they were for me, or my Bobcats.

Since returning to Sydney the old machines have been updated to a 763 skid steer and 331 excavator combination. They have been to the bottom Sydney Harbour, winched into holes and craned onto buildings but nothing comes close to the tough, harsh conditions experienced in the country. Thank god for those Bobcats.

Written by Steve Emerton

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