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Walkerston is a stopover town and locality in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is situated on the Peak Downs Highway 14 kilometres south-west of Mackay.
At Southern Cross we’ve been designing and installing Windmills Walkerston residents can trust since 1903.
With over 100 years of experience designing and manufacturing windmills, Walkerston residents can be comfortable knowing they have the support of Australia’s oldest windmill manufacturer.
Queenland families know how important reliable water harvesting systems are in the Australian outback, and this is why people all across the country continue to count on a Southern Cross windmill.
Southern Cross offers a range of sizes in both windwheels, and windmill towers, and can consult with you to find the right 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 most suitable 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:
For centuries, we have employed 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 Walkerston have been using windmills to help them meet their water harvesting needs for over 100 years now, stretching over 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.
Australia is a notoriously 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 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.
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.
As with any other sector, as technology improves, challengers will present themselves. The most recent challenger to the windmill being solar pumps
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.
While many solar systems may be advertised as a safer option, windmill accidents account for less than 1% of all accidents on rural properties, while many electric pumps contain a dangerous or lethal current.
Southern Cross has been providing windmills that Australian families can depend 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.
At Southern Cross we pride ourselves in the design and integrity of our Windmills. We specialise in the design, manufacture, installation and servicing of top quality windmills, across Australia and around the globe.
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.
With the first windmill decorated with the Southern Cross name rolling off the Toowoomba Foundry line all the way back in 1903, Southern Cross has unrivalled experience in addressing water harvesting needs.
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 well over a century ago, in 1876.
The introduction of windmills to the Australian outback allowed rural families and pastoralists to populate more arid areas of the country, causing towns and pastoral runs to begin popping up across these areas.
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 lives at the Gilgandra Museum and Historical Society, and was initially supplied by Southern Cross Windmills in 1924.
The magnificent windmill is now used solely for display purposes, but it pumped water reliable 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 needed was some oil in order to keep it in operating condition. This Mendooran windmill is a testament to the durability and reliability of a Southern Cross Windmill.
Hotels were once the backbone of Walkerston, like many towns, Walkerston already had three hotels in town by the late 1800’s. The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel is the only one in its original building, first erected in 1882.
Stay at one of the many hotels or homesteads in the town, and make a day trip to Mackay.
Not in Walkerston? For Windmills Marian click here.
