Bores, Troughs and Poly Pipe: Water Infrastructure on a Territory Property
Water is the property. Trenching poly below the heat and the stock, building trough and tank pads, cleaning turkey nests and the machines that do it between Darwin and Alice.
Whether it is a rural block at Humpty Doo or a station on the Barkly, the same rule applies: the water goes in first and everything else follows. A compact excavator does the digging that a tractor and post-hole borer cannot.
Poly pipe
Trench depth matters more in the Territory than anywhere. Shallow poly heats in the sun until the water is undrinkable and the pipe fails; shallow poly is also crushed by stock and vehicles. Trench 500 to 600 mm minimum, deeper under gateways, tracks and creek crossings, and backfill with sand or fine spoil rather than rock.
A narrow bucket on the R22 PRO or R32 PRO cuts a clean trench in laterite and red earth; a skid steer trencher on the RS10 or RS20 is faster on long flat runs in sand and loam. In black soil, trench in the dry and expect the cracks to swallow your backfill.
Trough and tank pads
A trough on a level, compacted pad does not tip and does not become a bog. A tank on a raised pad stays dry in the wet. Strip, level with a tilt bucket, compact, and finish above the surrounding ground. On the flats, build the pad up with imported gravel rather than digging down.
Bore heads and pump pits
Neat, square pits for pump housings, with drainage so they do not fill in the wet, are excavator work. The R22 PRO's precision beats a loader every time.
Turkey nests and dams
Silt builds up every wet. Clean out in the late dry when the water is lowest, working from firm ground with the R57 PRO's reach, and stockpile the silt where it cannot wash back. Reshape the batters so stock can drink without bogging.
Creek crossings and floodways
Culverts and rock floodways on tracks survive the wet where a plain crossing washes out. The excavator sets the culvert; the skid steer places the rock.
Timing
All water work is dry-season work: May to October, before the ground turns to grease and the tracks become rivers.
Machines and attachments
The R22 PRO for blocks, the R32 PRO and R57 PRO for stations, an RS10 or RS20 skid steer with a trencher for long runs. Narrow digging bucket, tilt bucket, trencher and, for laterite, a ripper. See the station and remote property page and the attachment finder.