Menu
Southern Cross Windmills have been supplying windmills Gracemere families can trust for over 100 years.
With the support of Australia’s oldest windmill manufacturer, people of Gracemere can sleep easy, knowing they’re supported by over 100 years of expertise.
People all across Queensland are well aware of the importance of a sound supply of water, and because of this, many of these people continue to turn to a Southern Cross Windmill.
Today Gracemere functions as a Dormitory Town, servicing the nearby Rockhampton city centre.
Southern Cross offers a range of sizes in both windwheels, and windmill towers, and can work with you to find the best windmill for you.
Our ‘IZ’ Double Geared Windmills range from a 6′ windwheel to a 14′ windwheel, and we offer tower heights from 20′ up to 60′. The best windmill tower for you will be determined by your geographical location, and the size of your chosen windwheel.
The Southern Cross “FA” Series Windmill Towers are available in the following heights:
The minimum recommended tower height for each windwheel size, is as follows:
Wind power is the original renewable energy source. It has been employed to power our boats, mill our grain and pump our water for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Windmills have been a part of rural living in Australia for well over a century, and is a great renewable energy source, along with being an Australian icon. Windmills have been a part of rural living in Australia for well over a century, and is a great renewable energy source, along with being an Australian icon.
Still one of the best and most environmentally friendly water harvesting solutions, a windmill can be constructed and effective anywhere there is access to water, whether that be underground in a well or bore, or drawing from a river or dam.
Australia is a famously arid and tough country, and water has always been difficult to come by for rural Australians – so much so that 85% of Australia’s population lives within 50km of the coast.
The advent of the modern windmill, thanks to George Washington Griffiths, was a game changer for pastoralists and graziers, allowing them to move further inland for stock grazing, where land was more affordable and accessible.
While most rural properties use their windmills to pump water from bores or wells, windmills can also pump water from rivers and creeks, or into and out of dams.
The solar water pump has recently presented itself as the latest challenger to the windmill, as water harvesting technology looks to modernise.
Windmills are proven to have a long term success that remains to be seen with the more modern solar pumps, with plenty of properties across Australia boasting wind pumps that are more than 50 years old and still operating perfectly.
Windmill accidents make up less than 1% of all accidents on rural properties, so while solar pumps are often regarded as a safer option, they contain a dangerous current, and also pose risk of injury or death.
Southern Cross has been providing windmills that Australian families can rely on for over a century, and all of our windmills have a 30+ year design life.
With the backing of over a century of industry leading windmill design and Australian innovation, Southern Cross continue to increase on the over 250 000 windmills sold since 1903. All Southern Cross Mills are hot dip galvanised.
A 3 year warranty is included in every purchase of a new Southern Cross Windmill.
Southern Cross Windmills pride ourselves on the quality and integrity of our product. We specialise in the manufacture, installation and service of industry leading windmills around the country and across the world.
All of our windmills are designed and engineered in-house, and are durable enough to survive in the harshest of Australian climates, rain, hail or shine.
Authentic Southern Cross parts for all current range windmills are available, as well as other parts for A, J, R & Z Pattern Windmills”, “J” Series Windmill Pumps, Troughs, Check Valves, Pump Heads and Pump Jacks may still be available upon request.
Southern Cross Windmills has unparalleled experience in dealing with towns like Gracemere’s water storage needs, with the very first Southern Cross branded windmill being produced at the Toowoomba Foundry all the way back in 1903.
The first windmills built by the Griffiths family in the Toowoomba Foundry were improved versions of blueprints designed by an American Engineer, Daniel Halladay, and these were produced more than a century ago, in 1876.
These first windmills allowed rural Australians to move into more arid areas of the country for grazing sheep and cattle, and inland towns and pastoral runs began to emerge across the nation.
Unlike another Aussie classic, the lamington, Southern Cross Windmills origins in Toowoomba are not up for debate, however, both have certainly gone on to become recognisable Australian icons.
Southern Cross still operates out of Queensland to this day, and is an Australian owned and operated company, servicing Australians all across the country, helping graziers, irrigators, families and more access reliable water harvesting infrastructure.
Now comfortably located at the Gilgandra Museum and Historical Society, this 7.3 m Southern Cross windwheel was built and transported to Mendooran in 1924.
The stunning windmill is now used solely for display purposes, but it pumped water vigilantly for 73 years before it was donated to the Gilgandra Museum and Historical Society by the Payne family.
Closing in on its 100th birthday, at the most recent service, all it required was some oil so as to keep it in operating condition. This Mendooran windmill is a testament to the durability and reliability of a Southern Cross Windmill.
As the suffix “mere” is a Scottish term for lake, Gracemere actually translates to Grace’s Lake or Lake Grace, which is the name of an agricultural shire in Western Australia.
Olympic and Commonwealth gold medal winning Cyclists Anna and Kerrie Meares grew up in the locality of Gracemere. The two both now have streets in the town named after them.
Not in Gracemere? For Windmills Blackwater click here.
