Championships

Press, 18 April 1980, Page 7

Championships

One of the highlights of the New Zealand National Field days held annually at Mystery Creek, Hamilton, is the New Zealand Wire Industries Farm Fencing Championships. These competitions have helped a great deal to improve the standard of fencing in New Zealand. The competitions are popular, judged by the fact that during the single man heats held prior to the field days up to 30 or 40 entrants take part and from these, the top eight are chosen for the finals. Likewise, there are usually a large number of entrants in the doubles event and from these the top pairs go forward to the doubles finals. The singles and doubles finals are held during the field days and both events attract a large number of spectators who can inspect the competitors’ work after judging. Staff from the New Zealand Agriculture Engineering Institute assist with the judging of these competitions each year. Equipment is provided by the N.Z.A.E.I. for mounting on a bulldozer and this bull-dozer-mounted test rig is then used for applying a load on the strainer assemblies. The skill and workmanship of the fencers can be judged by the fact that each strainer assembly is

subjected to a kg force 600 mm above ground level and the average strainer deflection would only be in the order of 4mm to Bmm measured I.lm above ground level.

The fences that the competitors erect are also judged for the standard of workmanship and items like the staying of the strainer posts, footing of line posts, spacing of line posts, stapling of line wires and wire tension can all make the difference between competitors winning or losing the event.

Five times winner of the New Zealand Wire Industries Farm Fencing Championships, Mr Albert Schuler of Rotorua, will be at the “Fencing for the 1980’s” field days apd he will be demonstrating the correct way to tie off tension wire' and the correct knots to use in high tensile wire. All these ideas and other tips that Mr Schuler will be passing on have enabled him to be the only fencer who has won the championship five times.

In addition to the New Zealand Wire Industries Farm Fencing Championships at Mystery Creek, Gallagher Electronics Limited of Hamilton sponsor the Gallagher Insultimber Electric Fencing Competition.