A 'Hole' Lot of Fun

Tim Sandilands is one of those blokes who just can't sit still! Whether it's in his business life or "relaxing" on his 5 acre Queensland property he's always in top gear. Tim is the franchisor of a successful group of hydraulic service outlets and his wife Denise reckons that when he needs to unwind he goes out and digs a hole with his tractor.

When Tim digs a hole he doesn’t muck around. Pictured are a couple of Tim's holes. His latest project is a 40 metre long lap pool. Tim says "my wife and I are triathletes and we figured a training pool at home would be a lot of fun. So I started digging! I have used my East Wind tractor to dig out over 500 cubic metres of sand for the pool just using the front end loader. In fact I have found the East Wind to be very handy for the whole pool building project to date.

I got hold of a big cement mixer to fit onto the PTO of the tractor which makes it easy to mix up the concrete. I did get sick of feeding it though, the mixer takes 90 shovels of sand and gravel. So I built a chute for feeding it. Now I get a bucketful with the front end loader, dump it in, then back up with the mixer – pull a lever and she's full. I even rigged up a bending machine driven by the tractor hydraulics to bend the reinforcement bars for the concrete work. Sure beats doing it by hand.

My other big hole is the lake and beach area I have created on the property. It started out as a regular little dam but since then I have dug out well over a 1000 buckets of sand. I have been very impressed with just how tough the 35 HP diesel engine is and how well it pushes, pulls and lifts. I have been pretty hard on this machine and used it in ways that are probably pushing it to its limits but it has stood up exceptionally well.

I would have to say it has been a great buy. You can easily spend a lot more but why would you when you get a machine with four wheel drive, power steering and a 4-in-1 front end loader for around $26,000 brand new. The 4 in 1 bucket is very handy because it opens and closes and enables you to blade and grab as well as level and scoop.

I really do use the tractor for everything around the place including more normal farming stuff. I have put in 1000 fence posts to build 3 kilometres of deer fence. I also have a wood splitter that fits on the back of the tractor and it has been great for getting my firewood quick and easily split.

When it comes to equipment I am a "I have one of everything" type of guy. The guys at Midway Sales have been very good at supplying me with a variety of implements to suit the East Wind Tractor. They have also been very helpful and backed their product."