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Wheat LumperPrint Page Print this page

25-January-2021
25-January-2021

Photographs supplied by Stephen Warren

The sculpture "Wheat Lumper" commemorates the pioneers of the grain industry in the Eyre Peninsula.

Location

Address:Tod Highway & Umlauf Street, Cummins, 5631
State:SA
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -34.266002
Long: 135.725721
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Sculpture
Monument Theme:Technology
Sub-Theme:Industry

Dedication

Front Inscription

A tribute to the pioneers of the grain industry

 

Left Side Inscription

Receiving grain from Growers

Bulk handling started on Eyre Peninsula in the late 1950`s. 
Prior to this all grain and fertiliser was handled in bags.

Ove the next decade silos were built all over Eyre Peninsula and bagged grain handling was gradually phased out.

Grain bags were all hand sewn.  Wheat bags weighed 80 - 85 kgs, and were stacked 22 bags high at the highest point.

It was very hard, manual labour and also required a huge amount of skill.

Right Side Inscription

Out - loading grain for export

When stacks were loaded on to rail trucks, up to 26 per minute were taken on the lumper`s shoulder and dropped into place in the rail trucks.

Cummins lumpers developed the use of wooden slides to achieve the quickest and most efficient method of pulling a stack down.

Once bags were placed in rail trucks, they were railed to the port of Port Lincoln. All grain had to be re-handled before being loaded on to ships for export

Further detailed information about grain handling methods involved bag sewing, building bag stacks and loading rail trucks in available from Cummins Newsagency and Cummins Post Office.

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au