Menu
At Southern Cross we’ve been designing and installing Windmills Tin Can Bay residents can trust since 1903.
With over 100 years of experience designing and manufacturing windmills, Tin Can Bay residents can be confident knowing they have the support of Australia’s oldest windmill manufacturer.
People in Tin Can Bay are mindful of their need for a reliable water supply, and due to this, many have, and still look to a Southern Cross windmill to assist them to meet their water pumping and collecting needs.
Tin Can Bay is a coastal town in the Gympie region that shares a coast with the Great Sandy Strait.
Southern Cross Windmills are available in a range of both windwheel and windmill tower sizes, and our experts can help you find the windmill that best suits your needs.
Our ‘FA’ Series towers come between 20′ and 60′, and the ‘IZ’ windwheels are available in sizes starting at 6′ all the way up to a 14′ wheel. The dimensions of your windmill will be established by your surrounding landscape.
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:
For centuries, we have worked with wind to power our boats, mill our grain and pump our water. Wind power is the first renewable energy to be harnessed by mankind.
Windmills have been a part of rural living in Australia for more than a century, and is a great renewable energy source, in addition to being an Australian icon. Australian towns like Tin Can Bay have been using windmills to help them meet their water harvesting needs for over 100 years now, spanning all parts of the continent.
Anywhere there is access to water, you can build a windmill, no matter if it’s a river, dam, bore or well, the windmill pump is one of the greenest and most effective water harvesting solutions.
Water has always provided a challenge for Australians, living in a famously dry and arid country – so much so that 85% of Australia’s population is located within a mere 50km from the nearest coastline.
The arrival 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.
Most windmills are used to pump water from underground aquifers deep below the surface, but they can also be repurposed to redirect water from a river or creek, or pump it into or from a dam.
The solar water pump has recently presented itself as the latest challenger to the windmill, as water harvesting technology looks to modernise.
While solar pumps look promising, they certainly aren’t as tried and tested in the long term as the classic windmill, with many properties across Australia featuring windmills that have been pumping water for more than 50 years.
Despite solar systems being advertised as a safer option, they may contain a potentially dangerous current, while the “dangerous” windmill accounts for less than 1% of all accidents on rural properties.
With a 30+ year design life, and over a hundred years’s experience in providing windmills to Australian families, Southern Cross Windmills are a name you can depend on.
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 specialise in the design, manufacture, installation and service of windmills across Australia. We pride ourselves in the design and integrity of every Windmill we produce.
Designed to thrive in even the most harsh Australian climates, all Southern Cross Windmills are designed and engineered in house.
Genuine parts are available for Southern Cross “IZ” windwheels and “FA” towers. Parts for the retired A, J, R & Z Pattern Windmills”, “J” Series Windmill Pumps, Troughs, Check Valves, Pump Heads and Pump Jacks may still be available upon request.
From the very first Southern Cross windmill rolling off the Toowoomba Foundry line in 1903, nobody has experience like we do of dealing with Tin Can Bay and Australia’s unique water harvesting needs.
The Griffiths family produced their first windmills in 1876, which were based on plans from American engineer Daniel Halladay, and improved upon for durability and performance.
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 spring up 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.
This Southern Cross windwheel – a substantial 7.3 m – now takes up residence at the Gilgandra Museum and Historical Society, and was originally supplied by Southern Cross Windmills in 1924.
While now used purely for display purposes, the Windmill pumped tirelessly and faithfully for 73 years before it was donated to the Gilgandra Museum and Historical Society by the Payne family in Mendooran.
This ageless windmill is now closing in on 100 years old, and provides a testament to the durability and reliability of a Southern Cross windmill. At its last service, all that was needed was an oil top up to keep it operating smoothly.
The town was originally called Wallu, but was changed to Tin Can Bay in 1937. The origins of the name “Tin Can,” are likely a Westernisation of indigenous word “tinken” or “tinchin”.
Tin Can Bay is a great spot to spend the day relaxing with a fishing rod, or spending some time getting to know the local dolphins.
Not in Tin Can Bay? For Windmills Gympie click here.
