Best Practice Day Amberley - 19 March 2026

FCANZ
Jul 6
2 min read

The recent Best Practice Day in Amberley was a great success, with a strong turnout of contractors from all over Canterbury and best of all, a good number of younger fencers getting stuck in and asking plenty of questions.

Kindly hosted on the property of Sarah Rodie, the day was held in perfect weather and provided a great setting for some practical, hands-on learning. We kicked things off with a demonstration on repairing and straining up security netting, requested by Tom Smith , which set a really practical tone for the rest of the day, mainly dedicated to Deer fencing.

One of the main highlights was the load testing of different strainer assemblies. It was a great chance to see how various setups actually perform under pressure, and it definitely got a few good discussions going.

We ran through a range of systems including box stays, dug in angle stays, breast blocks, and a driven stay block, using our digger and compactor. Tom Rathgen put on a really solid demonstration of a driven angle stay, with a strong focus on attention to detail and doing the job properly, which tied in well with the overall theme of the day.

There was a great level of engagement throughout the demonstrations, especially from the younger guys, which was awesome to see. Plenty of questions and engagement – exactly what these days are all about. Noksee and I added a bit of banter along the way, which kept things light and the young fellas amused.

A big thanks to the Heasley Fencing boys for getting everything set up the day before – it made a huge difference on the day. Also, a special mention to Noksee for his good humour, the knowledge he shared throughout, and hosting – he does bloody well for a young nearly seventy-year-old with buggered hips.

We were well supported by our industry partners including Beattie Insulators, Strainrite, Stihl, Waratah, Farmlands, Summit Steel, Bayonet and PGG Wrightson, and I’d like to thank North Canterbury Equipment for the use of the tractor.

Thanks to Campbell for supplying the venison for the barbecue, and to Sarah Dalziel from PGG Wrightson for the rest of the food. Chris from Farmlands Amberly and Sarah from PGG did a great job of the cooking.

All in all, it was a great day – good weather, good people, and plenty of useful learning. Days like this are a great way to share knowledge, lift standards, and help bring the next generation of fencing contractors through.

Key takeaways from load testing

Driven stay block performed strongest (~4,150 kg)
Rammed stay assemblies showed strong performance (~3,850 kg)
Tieback systems reached ~3,200 kg
Breast block assemblies, lower performance (~1,200 kg) – this was a poor result; it was a crap strainer, with low-density timber, which may be why it was left in our yard and accidentally picked when we were scrounging for materials for demonstrations. An excellent demonstration of the importance of using quality materials!
Attention to detail significantly impacts performance.

Written by Scott Heasley

Published in WIRED issue 81/June 2026 by Fencing Contractors Association NZ

You may also like: Best Practice Day Oamaru

Read WIRED online