The idea of a hydraulically operated sheep and cattle deck was thought up knowing the time consuming and often heavy work involved in raising beams manually. He explained that it is a much faster and easier way to adjust the decks in a trailer.

“The wench hydraulically adjusts the height of the decks to suit either sheep or cattle. It can be done in one minute twenty (seconds) compared to half an hour of manual work,” he said.

The concept of the design was discussed with local carriers and Tim Newberry made the idea a reality building the innovative deck.

Mr Pettit said he had received a lot of interest in regard to the new deck but did not expect a great deal of purchases until people are purchasing new trailers.

“There has been a bit of interest but I think a lot will start buying it when they get their next crate. There have been enquiries from North Queensland to Victoria,” he said.

“It costs around $30,000 to make which is probably about $3,000 more than usual with the extra cost being the hydraulic components.”

Mr Pettit has been invited to enter his invention in the National Field Days in Orange later this month as a result of his Ag Quip win. There, he has the opportunity to win a trip to visit New Zealand field days if his invention again stands out from the rest.