McDonald Downs Station
Project summary
- 6-stand raised board 883 square metre woolshed
After a devastating fire in 2023 which destroyed the shed built in 1941 Bill Paterson and his daughter Liz Higgins approached Colin Gregg from FarmBuild regarding building a replacement woolshed and covered yard complex.
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Colin gave Bill and Liz a list of recently built sheds to look at throughout New Zealand and was surprised by the following Monday Liz was back in touch and knew exactly what they wanted.
It was settled on a 6-stand raised board 883 square metre woolshed with capacity for 575 merinos on grating behind machines with a large wool room for handling and classing the wool room. There is also a large commercial grade kitchen on this level which is used during the shearing time as well as for visiting group, meetings and social functions.
Under the wool room is also storage for another 865 merinos on grating with good headroom and air flow for shepherds etc working under there. There is a good flow into the woolshed and the night pens underneath up into the shed for ease of loading both in and out. This central race is used for the shorn sheep to go back through to the covered yards to trenching race and animal health before returning to the paddock.
Also on the ground floor is two toilets, a shower and animal health area with tub that has hot and cold water for washing out trench guns etc. It also has fridges and freezer for storing product.
The large, covered yards of 528 square metres cover a further 800 merinos with drafting race, drenching race, handing facilities, conveyors belt provisions etc. This area works well for general everyday use and also for the busy shearing time.
The complex has a holding capacity of 2,240 woolly sheep for shearing.
Every farm is different, and a lot of time was spent with stock manager Dan and his wife Sophie marking the races and pens out, so they were specific to the Station’s needs. Once this was sorted the post driving and concrete work began, the end result is something everyone is very proud of.
It was a pleasure working with both Bill and Liz from McDonald Downs Station to complete their new complex in a very tight timeframe and have them shearing in July 2024.
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