About Us  |  Programs  |  State History Conference  |  Community Museums Program (CMP)  |  History Matters Magazine  |  Photographic Collection  |  History Resource Centre

> History Resource Centre
> Glass Negatives Collection
> Accreditation Program
> Community History Fund
> Advice and Training
v S.A. History Projects
   v Roads Through History
      > Road Making History
      > Heritage Objects
      > Restoration Projects
      > Men at Work
   > Sharing Their Legacy
   > SA Dry
> State History Conference
> History Matters Magazine
> Consultants and Designers
> S.A. Community History Directory

Grader – small

Very light and small graders were used in areas that bigger machinery could not access. They were made entirely of steel and could be pulled by a ‘light’ horse – hence the nickname ‘pony grader’. The graders were considered particularly useful on steep narrow tracks, where turning was difficult. For this purpose it could be used with two ‘light’ horses. These graders had only two axles and four wheels, the front wheels are much smaller than the rear wheels. They had a work capacity of 2-3 kms an hour. Unfortunately because of their light frame, the small graders could not work in rocky terrain, and they only operated effectively if the soil was moist. This limited use of the graders to two or three months of the year.

The grader photographed was originally purchased by the District Council of Hawker in the 1930s. This was a small council with a relatively limited length of roads to be maintained. It was also the furthermost local government service area covered by Highways Department assistance. This grader was later purchased by Kevin Rasheed of Wilpena Chalet in the Flinders Ranges for use in grading the trails and fire tracks.

Several pieces of equipment in this heritage collection come from the Hawker area where they were abandoned when no longer in use. The Hawker area was considered too remote to justify the expense of recovery for scrap metal.

<< back to objects