Southern Cross and Comet windmills are the surviving brands of the technology introduced into Australia 150 years ago. They enabled pastoralists to push the livestock frontier through into the drier outback and gave drovers watering stations along stock routes. Windmills are being replaced by solar pumps which are safer and are said to have lower maintenance costs. However a farmer can generally make his own windmill replacement parts in his own workshop, whereas the solar panels rely on “global supply chains” leading back to China. The windpump mechanism is explained here.
August 31, 2026 165 3
