‘Necessity is the mother of invention’... how true this saying was for those who worked the land many years ago. Woodlands Estate and the surrounding district was the home of many innovative thinkers who set out to make the lives of those who lived and worked there a little easier. One of the interesting creations at Woodlands was the water wheel, which was rather rare in the Waikato. The water used to turn the wheel was sourced from the peatlands of the Piako Swamp. Water was diverted down miles of mill race, from the swamp to the water wheel. The tapping of the Piako Swamp resulted in the lowering of the swamp land. The wheel itself was over 14 feet high and was housed in the mill building situated on the bank of the Komakorau Stream. The power generated was used for timber cutting, wood turning, grain crushing and chaff cutting. The whole setup was a tribute to the ingenuity of Henry Reynolds, the first manager of the Estate, followed by the skill and engineering knowledge that the second manager, John Gordon brought with him.
Henry Reynold’s dairy factory Pukekura 1886
Soon after he left Woodlands, Henry Reynolds established a small factory just out of Cambridge, in which butter was produced for the first time in the factory system in 1886. (See the dairying page for further information on this). Life was not at all easy for those who were given the job of digging drains in the swamp land by hand in the early days. Ploughing fields with horses was another challenging and time-consuming task, so imagine their relief as time went by and hard labour was slowly replaced by motive power. The first internal combustion engine tractor was placed on the market in 1893, but the steam tractor was still favoured at this time. Petrol tractors became a commercial success from 1903. The tractors that were used to work the land at Woodlands had to have modifications made. Wide, multi wheels were fitted to prevent the tractor from sinking into the peatland.
A worker with the reins in hand prepares the horses to roll the soil
New Zealand farmers seldom had the cash to buy things, so they ended up making them. Following are just some of the inventions of Vaughan Jones - a man who farmed peat in the original Woodlands Estate area between 1954 and 1987. In 1957 he created the Spinner Drain Digger. He took it to three companies who all said it would not work. How wrong they were, as he went on to buy a welder and make them himself. Vogal NZ Ltd later made them. Only one year later Vaughan Jones invented the Chisel Plough. This was used for deep peat cultivation. It increased pasture production and it is therefore no surprise to learn that he made and sold 12 of these ploughs on Piako Road alone, before 1966. Many more have sold countrywide since then. Vogal NZ Ltd later made these too.
Vaughan Jones using his Spinner Drain Digger